Back to Reality
by SearchingForThatBlueBox
Summary: It has been three years since Elena Gilbert has left Fell's Church and has seen the Salvatore brothers. She ran off because of a decision she made and now she has to go back to the life she left behind. There is more at stake then ever before.
1. The Beginning of the End

**Hey, so this is my first fic for Vampire Diaries. This is something I thought up of after reading the latest book.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone in this story.**

Chapter 1

The beginning of the end

It had been three years since Elena had seen the Salvatore brothers. She had moved out of Fell's Church and moved on with her life. She had moved to Chicago and went to college there. Today was the anniversary of the day that changed her life forever and had sent her on this path.

_Stefan had been gone for three weeks already in search of the kitsune, so that he could have his humanity back. Damon had reluctantly stayed behind because he was now human and would only slow his brother down. Stefan still hadn't forgiven him._ _Elena had been on edge since Stefan had left and Damon was there to console her. Elena knew Damon still had feelings for her and she felt something towards him too. She didn't know what it was; it was like a tugging at the pit of her stomach. She had never felt that way before. Damon and Elena were sitting on the couch in Mrs. Flower's living room playing a board game. Damon was surprised that he enjoyed playing those mundane games. He had a feeling it was because he was playing it with the woman he loved. Love. He knew he was in love. He had never felt this way, not even with Katherine. Elena smiled triumphantly at him when she won the game. _

_"I win!" she exclaimed. _

_"Again." Damon grumbled. _

_"Oh, don't be a sore loser." She said in a mocking tone. Damon gave her a wicked smile. _

_"I call a rematch." He said with a twinkle in his eyes. _

_"No way." She says crossing her arms. "I won fair and square."_

_Damon pouted his lower lip in mock hurt. Elena's eyes strayed to his lips. Damon stopped being playful when he felt the mood shift in the room. Elena lifted her eyes back up to his black ones. Damon took the first step towards her. Elena was frozen to the spot, she couldn't move. _

_"Damon." She says weakly, trying to protest. _

_"Shh." He says as he softly places his lips on hers. He had never been that gentle with her. Elena had wanted to pull away from him, but it felt right. She felt whole at that moment; something she hadn't felt since her parents had died. The kiss became more passionate and heated. One thing led to the next._

"Momma." A little girl cried, causing Elena's train of thought to be brought to an abrupt halt. Elena gets up from her couch and walks to her daughter's room.

"What is it baby?" Elena says. The little girl lifts her arms up towards her.

"Up." She says. Elena picks her daughter up and walks to her room.

"Are you ready for Amalia to come babysit you today? Mommy needs to go to her classes." The girl shakes her head quickly, her black hair whipping back and forth.

"No." She says, crossing her arms. Elena sighs.

"You're as stubborn as your father." She states. The little girl smiles at that.

"Okay, Miranda, let's get you dressed." (She had named her daughter after her mother and sister). She folded her little arms over her chest and sat cross legged on the ground.

"Miranda Margaret Gilbert I will not tell you again." Elena says sternly. The little girl gives in and let's her mother dress her.

When the sitter arrives Elena leaves to go to her classes. She was studying to be a teacher. A man walks up from behind her and then plants himself in front of her.

"Elena Stronghold, I thought I recognized you." Elena had changed her last name so that certain two brothers couldn't find her.

"Hey Josh, what's up?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"How about that date." He says boldly. Elena chuckles.

"That was bold." He shrugs again as they walk side by side to class.

"You know I can't."

"Why not? You could get a sitter."

"I don't know. It just doesn't feel right leaving her at night."

"Come on, it's one night. What d'ya say?"

"Fine. But only tonight. Pick me up at my place at seven."

Josh smiles triumphantly as he walks off. Josh Careiro was a good guy and he was fairly good looking too. He was over six feet tall and had blue eyes and dark brown hair. He was in two of her classes. When Elena got home she was greeted by Miranda rushing to hug her legs.

"Hi baby. Did you have a good day?" Miranda nodded.

"Oh, señorita Stronghold, ello. Did jou have good day?" Amalia said in her strong Spanish accent. Amalia was a plump, middle aged woman that had recently moved to Chicago from Mexico. Elena nods.

"Yes, thank you. I was wondering if it was alright if you could watch Miranda tonight at seven for a couple of hours. I'll pay you double the amount."

"Sí, that is fine. No need to pay doble, it is fine." She reassures her as she puts her boots on and leaves.

"Thank you misses Gomez." She says as the door closes.

Miranda beams her smile up to her mother. Her eyes staring up at her, she had the same eyes as Elena. She made supper for her daughter and went to her room to change as Miranda watched her nightly cartoons. She switched from one dress to the next, not knowing which one she would wear. Then she thought of words spoken to her so long ago.

"_You're beautiful." He said as Elena lay next to him with a thousand thoughts running through her head. She had betrayed Stefan. _

_"Damon, I'm sorry I have to go." Elena gets up and dresses hurriedly. _

_That was the last time she had seen Damon, his eyes were full of pain. She had wanted to cry then. She hadn't ever seen him look so broken. A week after that she left Fell's Church without saying good-bye to him or his brother. Stefan hadn't come back anyway. She couldn't be around any of them, one of them would be hurt and she didn`t want history repeating itself. Maybe because of her departure there bond would be stronger. She had said good-bye to Matt, Bonnie and Meredith and they swore to her not to tell Damon until a week after she was gone. When she had arrived in New York she had changed her name and every piece of identity she had and then from there she moved to Chicago. A month after that she found out she was pregnant. She knew immediately she was going to keep her child. But, she would never tell her child's father or his brother._

Elena grabbed a red v neck dress and fixed her golden hair so it would look nice. Josh rang the door bell at exactly seven o`clock. Miranda ran to the door and opened it to find a stranger. She shut to the door on his face and ran to her mommy's room.

"Momma." She said as her bottom lip quivered.

"Oh, baby it`s okay. He's a friend. Come on." She grabs her daughter and places her on her hip as she opens the door.

"Come in, Josh. I'm so sorry about that." She chuckles. "She doesn't know you, so she got scared." Josh laughs.

"It's fine Elena." He turns to Miranda. "Hello there cutie, I'm Josh." Miranda hides her head in her mother's shoulder shyly.

"Alana should be here soon. Do you want something to drink?" He shakes his head.

"No, I`m fine, thanks."

Alana arrived five minutes later and they were off on their date. They arrived at a fancy restaurant and Elena couldn`t help but gape.

"Wow, Josh. This is really nice." He just smiles shyly at her.

The night went off better than any of them had expected. In front of Elena's door, Josh kissed her sweetly on the lips.

"Bye, D-Josh, the night was lovely." She thanks him as she almost called him Damon. He hadn't noticed.

"See you tomorrow then. Bye" She waves to him and she smiles.

She was angry with herself for almost slipping up. She unlocks the door to her apartment only to find it wasn't locked. Odd. She opens the door.

"Misses Gomez, I'm home." She calls out, but there is no answer. She's starting to get worried. She walks to the living room and yells a deafening cry of horror.

There was blood splattered on the TV screen and Alana lay on the couch with dead eyes staring up at the ceiling. She had a gash in her throat and there was blood everywhere. Elena's heart pounded in her ears. She ran lightning fast to her daughter's room. She looked in the crib but she wasn't there. A sob escaped her lips.

"Miranda, if you can hear mommy come out please." She cries out desperately. She ran to her room and to her relief her daughter was sleeping soundly on her stomach. But, when she got closer to her she saw a note pinned to her clothes. It read: _The next time I come it will be her life. _Elena stared at it in horror.

She packed as many things as she could and left the apartment still in her red dress and her daughter sleeping against her chest. She put her in her car and started driving off. They were in danger, of that she knew for sure. She drove as fast as she could towards the life she left behind. She only knew two men that could help her. At one point when she was around six months pregnant she knew that this day would come. She just hadn't wanted it to be so soon. Hearts would be broken and truths will have to come out. She looked in the rear view mirror to look at her sleeping daughter. This was the beginning of the end.

**So, what do you think? Should I continue? Please review.**


	2. Finding Her

Hey everyone! Thanks for those great reviews! I really apreciate it and it inspires me to keep writing. Anyway, enough of the oowie goowie stuff. Here's the next chap.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 2

Finding her

Two years and five months earlier

Stefan had arrived back at Fells Church with a loss of hope. He hadn't been able to find the kitsune that would be able to give him his humanity back. He opened the door to Mrs. Flower's house to find his brother on the couch. He looked like he hadn't showered or shaved in days. He had beer cans next to the couch and he was asleep. He was a mess. Stefan thought it was because he couldn't handle not being a vampire anymore. He was angry at his brother. He should be the one that had become human again. He walks over to his brother and kicks his leg.

"Damon wake up!" Damon groans, opens his eyes, sees Stefan and then closes them again.

"Go away." He mumbles.

"Damon get up!" he says fiercely. "Get over yourself, deal with it, and get up!" He opens his blood shot eyes and glares at his brother.

"She left." He says. Stefan looks confused.

"Who?" Damon glares at him harder.

"Elena, you idiot. Who else?" Stefan looks shocked.

"She left? To go where?" Damon shrugs and takes a swig of the beer on the coffee table. Stefan grabbed the beer from his hand and through it against the wall and then grabbed his brother and shoved him against the wall.

"Where?" He growls. Damon laughs bitterly.

"If I knew she would be back here." He pushes his brother harder against the wall. Damon winces.

"What did you do?" Damon looks away sadly and shrugs. Stefan lets go of his pathetic brother and drives over to Bonnie's place. He knocks on the door loudly.

"Bonnie!" he yells out. Bonnie opens the door.

"Stefan." She says relieved, hugging him. He hugs her back and then pulls her away from him.

"Where's Elena?" Bonnie looks away.

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell us. She didn't even want Damon to know she left. She left a message for you though." Bonnie went inside of the house and grabbed a rumpled envelope.

"I hope this gives you the answers you're looking for."

"Thank you, Bonnie." He says sincerely. When Stefan had gotten back to the boarding house he noticed Damon had cleaned out the living room. He was most likely brooding in his room. Stefan lay on the bed to read the note. It still smelled of her. He opened the envelope eagerly.

_Dear Stefan,_

_I have left Fells Church and do not plan on ever coming back. I have caused enough problems in your life. You and Damon need to reconcile, with me out of the picture it will be easier. You know your brother likes me and with us being together you will never have a proper relationship with him. Don't come looking for me. I do not want to see you. I have found someone else._

_Goodbye_

_Elena_

Stefan's head reeled. He scrunched up the envelope in anger and through it across the room. _She did this so my brother and I could reconcile? That was foolish. _He couldn't believe she could just move on from him that quickly. He had thought it was love. He came to the conclusion that she was lying. He lay on his bed with his eyes closed and concentrated on her heartbeat. He found it quick enough. He changed his form into a bird and flew towards the sound of her beating heart. He perched himself on a tree branch when he saw Elena's form in the streets. When she turned around he was in for a surprise of a lifetime. She looked at least six months pregnant. He knew it wasn't because of him because they had never done anything and even if they did vampires couldn't have children. She turned around to a man.

"Josh." He heard her say.

"You're early." He smiled at her and she smiled back. She hadn't lied in her letter, she had found someone else. He was heartbroken. He felt like his heart would shatter in a million pieces in that moment. He was happy that she could have a normal life with her child and husband. He had always insisted that she should leave him to have a normal life. He took off back towards the boarding house. He wouldn't tell Damon, he couldn't.

Six months earlier

Damon had cleaned up his act after Stefan had gotten back. He knew that when he died his soul would still go to Hell for all the lives he took, but he wanted to make the world a better place now. He had enrolled in a college to become a firefighter. He had faked his school records, of course, to get in. He had just graduated and it was his first time going to a scene. He had never gotten over Elena but he had finally gotten over himself. His relationship with his brother was a little better, but still strained. His brother looked heartbroken when he had learned Elena left but took it better than he had. He was surprised his brother hadn't found her yet. He opened the doors to the fire truck and ran to the car and the victim in it. After cutting the roof off of the car, with his colleagues, they helped her into the gurney and brought her inside of the ambulance.

"You did good rookie." The chief slapped him on the back. Damon smiled and went back inside of the fire truck.

One week earlier

The demons had found the whereabouts of one Elena Gilbert and her daughter. The child was very powerful; they could feel it. She was the first of her kind; the child of two people that used to be vampires. It was rare that vampires were ever turned human again, let alone live that long afterwards and then procreate. They usually thought they were still invincible and would get killed soon after. Her mother and father were very powerful too. It was the good kind of power, the kind of power that could get them all killed. There plan was to scare the woman to run to the child's father and then kill them all together. Of course they had to have fun with it too. The demons smile evilly at each other. They were just waiting for the right moment.

**Okay, a little cheesy I know. Anyway, I love reviews, so please review. 'Till next time.**


	3. The Return

Hello everybody. Thanks agaon for all the reviews! Here's the next chapter, hope everyone enjoys!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, wish I did.

Chapter three

The return: Meredith and Bonnie

The car came to halt in front of Bonnie's house. Elena got out of the car and took her sleeping daughter into her arms. On her way to Fells Church she had stopped at the airport to go on a plane and then to gas up the rental car. At the airport she had changed from her dress and heels into sneakers and jeans and a blue t-shirt. Her daughter had slept most of the way there. She had no clue to what was going on. Elena knocked at the door hesitantly. She heard Bonnie running down the stairs.

"One minute!" She yelled out. She swung the door open to find her dear old friend on the other side of the door. She looked at the child in her arms and then fainted. When she awoke they were in her living room, Elena was sitting next to her with a concerned look on her face.

"Bon, are you okay? You fainted." Bonnie sat upright and hugged Elena tightly.

"I haven't heard from you for so long, we thought," she choked up, "We thought you were dead." She cried into her friends shoulder. Elena also cried.

"Why did you leave? Why are you back? I thought I saw a kid with you. I must've been hallucinating." She rants.

"Whoa Bonnie, slow down."

"Sorry I'm just so overwhelmed. You're back!" she screeched. They hugged again. Bonnie saw movement from the corner of her eye. She turned her head around to see the dark headed girl.

"What? Who?" she points at her shakily.

"Bonnie, this is my daughter Miranda. She's just over two now." Bonnie looks at the child wide eyed. She runs to Elena, flinging her arms toward her.

"Momma!" she yells out.

"She doesn't take so well to strangers." She explains.

"A... a daughter?" Elena nods.

"Is she why you left?" Elena shakes her head.

"I didn't know I was pregnant then." Bonnie looks incredulously at her. She studies the child closely; she looked just like _him_, minus the eyes. She looks up at Elena.

"Does he know?" Elena shakes her head.

"I didn't know back then and I wasn't going to come back to tell him. I had caused enough damage and... they would have killed each other if they knew."

"Wow, she looks just like him." Bonnie says. Elena nods sadly.

"Did you love him?" she asks. Again Elena nods, a sad look in her eyes. She had loved both brothers.

"Look, the reason I came back is because somebody's after us. They killed Miranda's baby sitter and they put a note on my baby." She said, pulling the note out of her purse. Bonnie read it.

"Oh my God." She said.

"I came because Stefan and Damon are the only ones that can help."

"But, Damon's a human now." Elena nods.

"But, he's still strong and has connections." Bonnie nods thoughtfully.

"Are you going to tell him?" Elena looks pensive.

"If I have to." She says. Bonnie nods.

"God, you're back." She says smiling and hugging her friend.

"Can you watch Miranda while I go to Mrs. Flowers?" Bonnie nods.

"Yeah. I'll call Meredith. She'll be ecstatic that you're back." Elena thanks her.

"Baby, this is Auntie Bonnie. She's a friend. Say hello." Miranda looks up at her.

"Hello." She says shyly.

"Aww, she's so cute." Bonnie gushes. She picks up the phone and dials Meredith.

"You won't believe who's here." She says excitedly.

"Come over quick." She hangs up the phone.

"She's coming over." Elena smiles, she was happy to get to see her friends.

"How's Matt?" Elena asks. Bonnie smiles.

"He's good." Elena looks at her suspiciously.

"Is there something I should know?" Bonnie just shrugs as her cheeks turn toa bright pink. Elena drops the subject for the moment.

Five minutes later the door bell rings. Bonnie was playing on the ground with Miranda. Elena got the door. Meredith launched herself at her.

"Elena!" she shrieks.

"Mer, it's so good to see you again." Meredith walks into the house staring at her friend.

"You look different." She observes. "You look tired." Elena had worry lines in her face that she hadn't had better, but she still looked beautiful and young. Meredith cocks an eyebrow when she sees Bonnie on the ground. She walks up to her and then sees the child on the ground. Meredith wasn't easily surprised, but this really surprised her. Without looking at the child twice she already knew who her father was.

"Well, this is new." She says after a moment.

"Miranda say hello to Meredith." She crawls closer to Bonnie and shyly says: "Hello." She hugs Bonnie closer to her.

"Aww." The two friends say.

"How old are you?" Meredith asks. The little girl puts up three fingers.

"Two." She says.

"Hunny this is two." Elena says showing her two fingers. Miranda tries putting her other finger down, furrowing her brow in concentration and then says again: "I'm Two."

"Baby this is Auntie Meredith."

"Hello." She says again and then goes back to playing with her blocks with Bonnie. Meredith doesn't ask her a million questions like Bonnie. She knew that if Elena wanted to tell her she would.

"Are you two okay with her now? I'm gonna go to the boarding house." They both nod happily. She sneaks out of the house before her daughter notices and then drives down the familiar road toward the boarding house.

The Return: Stefan

Elena stopped the car in front of the boarding house, mentally preparing herself to see the two men she had left behind; the brothers that she had loved so long ago. Elena got out of the car and knocked on the door. Stefan opened it. His eyes widened, he hadn't expected her. He had known someone was down there but he had thought it was his brother getting back from work. Elena remembered the last time she had seen Stefan.

"_I have to leave, my love, so that I can be human with you and we can be together properly." Elena had tears going down her cheeks. _

_"But I just got you back. What if something happens to you?" Her eyes were pleading him to stay. He shakes his head. _

_"Sage will be with me. I will be fine and I will come back for you." He kisses her on the forehead and then on the lips. _

_"Good-bye, my lovely little love." He says before leaving the room. He was gone soon after with Sage. and Elena cried on her bed, not knowing if she would ever see him again._

"Elena." He chokes out. He was gaping at her.

"Come in." He sees after it feels like eternity. She steps into the house awkwardly.

"Stefan, it's so good to see you again." Stefan stares at her without saying anything.

"Stefan, please say something."

"Where is your child?" he says out of the blue. _He knew_, her mind screamed, _oh God_.

"M-my child?" she squeaks.

"You do not need to hide it from me. I know."

"You know?" This was worse than she thought.

"And your husband, where is he?" Elena looks at him confused.

"Husband?"

"Yes, as I remember you called him Josh."

"Josh?" she laughs. "He's only a friend." Stefan looks at her.

"I'm not stupid Elena. When I found out you left I looked for you. To my utter horror you were very pregnant and with a man named Josh."

"Oh." She says. "Yes, I was pregnant. But Josh is only a friend; I go to college with him."

"Then who is the father?"

The Return: Damon

Damon put his bunker gear on the hook, he quickly showered and then left the fire hall. He liked being at work, it took his mind off of Elena. He drove to the boarding house to find a different car in the driveway. That was odd, they usually didn't have visiters. He entered the door of the boarding house. Stefan was talking to someone in the living room. Damon walked to the living room to find someone he hadn't seen in over three years.

"Then who is the father?" His brother accuses her. _The_ _father? Who's father? What is he talking about? _Damon stayed behind, he took a step to listen closer when the floor boards creaked. He cursed to himself. Elena and Stefan slowly turn around.

"Damon?" she asks, her voice full of emotion. She runs up to him and gives him a tight hug. Stefan observes there interaction in the background. Damon has a new light in his eyes that he hadn't had since Elena had left. Stefan feels his stomach drop, he did the math in his head. It fit. A flash of anger crossed his eyes, but he held it in for her sake.

"You smell like smoke." She remarks. Damon laughs for the first time in a long time.

"I'm a fire fighter now. I took a shower but the smell is hard to get rid of." Elena looks up at him in surprise.

"Wow, good for you." She says. "You've changed." He nods with a smile.

"Yes, well I'm not a vampire anymore and I needed to get a job to pay for food and board." Elena smiles back at him.

"It's good to see you again." He smiles sadly. "What brings you back here?" he says bitterly. Elena looks up in surprise. Her leaving, she realized, had really hurt him.

"I've come upon some danger. Vampires I believe." Stefan walks up to them.

"What do you mean?" he says.

"I was out on a date, the first time I've been out in three years. When I got home, my um friend's throat was ripped open and my other friend had a note pinned to her."

She took out the note and handed it to Damon. He read it and Stefan read over his shoulder.

"I need your help. Both of you." She says. Stefan gives her a knowing look.

"Elena, we can't help you if you don't give us the full story." Damon looks up at him in surprise. _Elena lied?_ She sighs.

"Mrs. Gomez, my sitter was the one that was killed." _Sitter?_ Damon wonders.

"Aren't you a little old for a sitter?" He jokes. Elena glares at him.

"It wasn't for me, it was for my daughter. She was the one with the note pinned to her." Damon's face fell. She moved on. He looks up at Stefan, he didn't look surprised. That was odd.

**Please review, I really do appreciate it. Reviews make my day! Next post will be on Tuesday.**


	4. Hidden Truths

Hey, sorry I'm late! I didn't have my laptop with me yesterday. To make up for it I've got fun facts at the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!

Chapter four

Hidden Truths

After finally getting over the shock Damon stuttered: "W-What?"

Elena had never known Damon to stutter or be at a loss for words. He looks up at his brother again.

"You knew." He accused him. "How?" Stefan scowls.

"Don't be stupid brother you of all people should know I went looking for her. I found her the night I came back. I found out that she had moved on." Damon nods numbly.

"That's why you looked so betrayed when you came back." Damon said. How could she have moved on so quickly after what they had had? He knew that she had been in love with his brother when Stefan had left. Damon had thought that that was the reason why she left, but maybe it was just because she had not loved any of them. His brother elbowed him in the side, hard. He had picked up on his thoughts.

Damon's thoughts had confirmed Srefan's suspicions. Over the years his brother had built a wall around his thoughts, making it so that Stefan couldn't see the particular images he had seen earlier. But at that moment his guards had been let down and he saw images he had never wanted to see again.

Damon couldn't get a hold on his emotions; he didn't know what to say to Elena. He quickly grabbed his coat off the rack and then left, slamming the door behind him.

"Elena." Stefan says. "How old is your child?" Elena didn't know where he was going with his question but answered nonetheless.

"A little over two. Why?" He looked into the eyes of the woman he once loved. _Once loved?_ He thought. He hadn't realized until now that he had fallen out of love with Elena. He had wanted her to be happy. Yes, he was still bitter over the fact he couldn't have his angel, but he wasn't human and she deserved to be with someone that would grow old with her.

"Is your child's father my brother?" He asks, being straight forward. To say the least, Elena was taken aback and was stunned into silence.

"H-how?" She stutters questioningly.

"The timing." He said simply and adds: "The way my brother lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw you and the way he was when I came back from looking for my humanity." He pauses, anger fuelling him. "Did you know he had taken up drinking? He was drunk every day and every night until I knocked some sense into him. One of the first things he said to me was: "She's gone." You broke him, Elena. But, what put all the pieces together were the images I just picked up from my brother. Something I had never wanted to see in my whole existence." He said his little speech without faltering and he sounded betrayed, bitter, disgusted, but what surprised her most was that he was angry; angry for hurting his brother. She was shocked, to say the least. Elena bowed her head down like a five year old being caught doing a bad deed, her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"Yes, Damon is Miranda's father." She says hesitantly. Stefan nods thoughtfully.

"Tell him." He says before leaving the room. _Well that went well_, Elena thought. She had pissed off two brothers and still hadn't gotten any help.

Damon had driven aimlessly around town until he ended up at the local bar. He sat down in a stool and ordered himself a strong drink. He had downed it in one shot. He asked the bartender for another one. After being there for half an hour and becoming quite drunk, a burly man sat next to him.

"Lady troubles?" he asks gruffly. Damon chuckles.

"You could say that." Damon didn't know if it was his imagination but from the corner of his eyes he thought he saw a dangerous red glow in the man's eyes.

"The name's Tank." He says shaking Damon's hand.

"Damon." He says simply.

"The next one's on me." Tank says.

"So, what brings you out here?" The man asks.

Damon sways a little before saying: "My ex is back in town. Found out she had a child. She moved on pretty quickly, like I never really existed to her." He slurred.

"Tough." The man says laughing. "Maybe she never loved you; maybe she was toying with your emotions." Damon looks angry.

"Who the hell knows?" he yells out making a few heads turn in his direction. Tank laughs.

"Join me with my crew and all your worries will be whisked away." Damon, in his drunken stupor didn't think twice about this. He agreed and joined the man and his friends outside.

VD

The next morning Damon woke up with a throbbing headache and no recollection of the previous night. He realised he was not in his own bed, but in a motel room. He tried as best he could to retrieve the memories, but nothing came. In time he would remember, he was sure. He went to the bathroom to rinse his face. He noticed in the mirror that his eyes were bloodshot. He must've been hammered. He grabbed his jacket off the bed and drove to the boarding house. Maybe his brother would have answers.

Tank smiled a hideous smile. He had missing teeth and the ones he had were blackened from the horrendous things he ate. He smiled at the memory of the taste of Mrs. Gomez' blood. He wasn't a vampire, but a demon. He had bitten her, not only because he enjoyed the taste of blood but because he wanted the Salvatore brothers to be led in the wrong direction. He wanted them to think it was other vampires that were after them. He hadn't planned on meeting Damon at the bar, but it added to the fun of his game; before he had to kill them all. He had slipped drugs into Damon's drink, making him pass out soon after. Then he had planted a device into his head, making him do whatever he commanded. He would make Damon kill his family and then himself.

**End of chapter. Here are the fun facts:**

Ian Somerhalder, the guy that plays Damon Salvatore in Vampire Diaries played Boone Carlyle in Lost and guest stared as Adam Knight in Smallville season 3. (Two of my favourite shows). He was also in CSI, CSI: Miami, Law & Order: SVU, etc... He is also to my utter surprise 33 years old.

Paul Wesley, the guy that plays Stefan guest stared in Smallville season 2 as Lucas Luthor, he was also in Law & Order: CI, Eight Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Law & Order: SVU, Crossing Jordan, Cold Case, 24, etc. He is 29 years old and his birth name is Paul Wasilewski.

That was for all of those who didn't know that and if you did that's pretty awesome. Next update will be on Friday (after Smallville plays).


	5. The Answers in the Lies

Here's my next chapter! I decided to publish it before Smallville 'cause I had extra time on my hands. I hope you like it!

Chapter five

The Answers in the Lies

Elena looked down at Miranda's sleeping form. She was so peaceful like this. Contrary to popular belief she was quite the little devil and she talked (more like babbled) a mile a minute. But when she was around strangers she became very quiet. Slowly, as dawn crept in, Miranda began to stir beside her, she turned around to look at Elena. Her blue eyes were staring back at her mother's; she rubbed her eyes slowly, yawned and then said: "Hi Momma. I hungwy."

"Okay, we'll go ask Aunt Bonnie if she has any cereal." The girl nods excitedly and jumps off the bed.

"Let's go!" she says impatiently. Elena chuckles and goes downstairs with her pyjamas still on. Bonnie was already up and watching TV.

"Hey, you two. What" her concentration turns to the wall. Her eyes are unseeing; she was in a trance. Miranda looks at her worriedly.

"Do not trust the ones nearest to you for they are the ones that will betray you." Her voice sounded deeper. Miranda pulled on her mother's pyjama pants. Her lower lip was trembling indicating that she was going to cry. Elena picks her up soundlessly. As quickly as the trance began it ended. Bonnie looked up at Miranda confused. The little girl was on the verge of tears.

"Oh no, don't tell me it happened in front of her." She says her eyes huge as saucers. Elena nods.

"What did I say?" she asks worriedly glancing at Miranda.

"Not to trust those that are close to us because they'll betray us." Bonnie looks at her quizzically.

"It's fine Bon, don't worry about it. Do you have any cereal?" Bonnie nods and shows her the cupboard of cereal. After eating there breakfast Miranda got over the fiasco of earlier and went to chatting with Bonnie.

"Do you like my toes?" she says grabbing her foot and shoving it in Bonnie's face. Elena and Bonnie burst out laughing; forgetting there earlier worries.

VD

Damon went down the stairs to see his brother, unfortunately he was out hunting. Damon grabbed a cereal box and put milk into it, he swirled it together and grabbed a spoon and started eating it. Of course, it wasn't a full box of cereal. When he was done he waited for his brother on the sofa. He didn't have to work for another day. Mrs. Flowers entered the living room with some tea.

"Hello Damon. Tea?" she says sweetly. He nods and thanks her as he grabs the cup of tea.

"You should talk to Elena." She says. He scowls at her.

"What's the point? I don't matter to her. I'm yesterday's garbage." The older lady shakes her head.

"You would be surprised. Open your eyes boy. Talk to her." She gets up and takes the cups of tea with her, disappearing into the kitchen. Damon waited for Stefan for a little longer. When he didn't arrive he decided to go drive into town.

VD

"Bonnie, do you have anything for lunch?" Elena asks from the kitchen.

"Oh no! I forgot to go shopping. I can go now if you want." She says, getting up from the couch.

"Bonnie, you've done enough for us. I'll go."

"Elena, it's no problem, really."

"It's fine. Miranda's getting restles anyway." They look over at Miranda who's throwing Bonnie's books on the ground.

"Okay. I'll pay you back though."

"No. It's fine. We're staying here for free. Don't even protest." She grabs Miranda and puts on her coat. They leave soon after, leaving Bonnie to clean her house.

Elena was driving to the supermarket. She had decided to take a short cut so that she could get there faster. Unfortunately fate had other plans for her. Her car started stalling and finally came to a stop on the side of the road.

"Crap." She said loudly, forgetting about her daughter in the back seat until she heard tiny giggles.

"You said a bad word." She points out, covering her mouth as she snickers away.

"Yes, mommy did and I'm sorry. Do you want to wash my mouth out with soap?" she asks looking back at her daughter. She nods giggling. Elena turned back around and pulled out her cell phone, but there was no reception. She got out of the car and walked around with her cell above her head. There was still no reception.

"Momma!" she hears Miranda cry out. Elena hadn't realized how far she had gotten away from the car. In the car she saw her daughter flailing in a pair of large hands that belonged to an even larger man.

"Oh God." She cried out running to her daughter.

VD

Damon was driving aimlessly down different roads. All of which were relatively deserted. He liked the quietness and peace of driving around. Sometimes he missed the days where he would never get tired and never be bored. But being a mundane again made him appreciate life more and finally accept that one day he would grow old and die. He sighed heavily. He thought he had seen movement in the bushes, from the corner of his eye, but when he looked over nothing was there. He looked back at the road and slammed on his brakes. He swerved to the left almost hitting a tree. When his car comes to a stop he gets out of the car to help the people on the side of the road. As soon as he opens his door his ears are hit with a loud scream. He runs to the car to find a man hitting and kicking a blonde woman. The woman was on the ground face down. She looked unconscious.

"Momma." He heard a soft whimper.

He turns around to be face to face with a little girl. His breath catches in his throat and he feels light-headed. _Elena's eyes_, he thought, _those were Elena's eyes_. He whipped his body around and lunged into the man kicking Elena. His revelation had only taken five seconds, but those had been five seconds that the man was still beating her. The large man stumbled back and then concentrated his punches on Damon. Later Damon would realize that the man had been Tank, the one he had met at the bar. Damon fought back with as much vehemence as he could muster. He kicked the guy in the jaw and then the nose. His kicks were strong enough to break the guys bones. Damon realized too late that the man wasn't human. He glanced quickly in Elena's direction; she was still unconscious. He fought back as much he could, but he was getting beaten pretty badly. Consciousness was soon escaping and he did the last thing he could think of. With all the energy he had left he sent out one thought hoping it would work. _Stefan._ He thought as the world melted away in complete darkness.

**So that's it for now. Next update will be Sunday. Don't forget to review!**


	6. Silence and Conflicting Thoughts

Sorry for updating so late. I didn't have my computer with me, but I got it back early, so I can finally update! So this ones a little short and it's written in Stefan's perspective (not point of view). Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don`t own, don`t sue.

Chapter Six

Silence and Conflicting Thoughts

The day had been relatively quiet and Stefan enjoyed the silence while sitting on a tree branch. He was thinking of Elena and what could have been. He knew they were over; there would never again be a 'they' for them. He understood now that leaving Elena all those years ago had been a terrible mistake. He should have known that his love struck brother would have made a move on his girl friend. He had been so caught up in his selfish need to become human again he hadn't seen what Elena had gone through. It had been his decision to leave her first not the other way around. He was over the past and over their relationship. But, he knew Damon wasn't. In his own twisted way, Damon had always been in love with Elena and now they shared a child. It was mind blowing to think that he had lost Elena forever, but even more mind blowing was that Damon was a father.

He chuckled slightly at the thought. Damon, a father? Five years earlier he would have bet his soul that Damon would never be a father and now there was living proof contrary to that. As much as he despised his brother for taking the love of his life away from him, he was content to think that his brother, Elena and their daughter would be happy together. Stefan decided that he would only support his brother from now on; encourage him even. Stefan had eternity to live, but Damon only had another 70-80 years left. It was saddening to think that one day the world wouldn't have his brother living in it anymore.

He jumped off the tree when there was a quiet whisper in his head. _Stefan._ It was Damon's mental voice. But how was that possible? He wasn't a vampire anymore and the voice wasn't very powerful. He didn't dwell on it for long because his brother was in trouble. He concentrated as hard as he could on his brother's heartbeat. It had taken Stefan awhile to be attuned to it over the past three years; actually it was very strange and foreign to hear the beating of a heart coming from his brother. He heard the familiar sound of it. Unfortunately he realized his heartbeat was decreasing. He ran to the source of it to find utter chaos.

Elena was on the ground unconscious and so was his brother. They both looked pretty badly beaten up. Though the culprit who had caused such trouble was nowhere to be found. He turned around to find a little girl, who looked remarkably like his brother, crying in the backseat of Elena's car.

"Momma." The little girl whimpered as she shied away from Stefan. Stefan whipped out his cell phone and called 911. (He wasn't fast enough to bring them to the hospital and he wasn't going to leave Elena's daughter alone.) The fire trucks arrived first, being as they were closer. Men Stefan had met before ran out of the truck to help the two victims.

"Oh my God, chief, it's Damon Salvatore." Lieutenant Darwin yells out. The chief rushes over to him. They put Elena and Damon in gurneys and then into the ambulance. The ambulance drives off in a rush, sirens blaring. The chief goes to speak with Stefan when he sees the little girl in the car. He squints at her and simply states: "I didn't know he had a kid." Stefan laughs humourlessly.

"He doesn't know either." The chief gives him a quizzical look and then looks back down at the girl.

"Hello sweetheart, I'm Chief John Clark. What's your name?"

"Miranda." She says shyly. "Momma says not to talk to stwangews."

"That's good advice. Do you want a ride in the big, red fire truck to go see your mom?" Miranda nods shyly as a tear slides down her cheek.

He picks her up and brings her to the fire truck. He drivess one of the trucks with a couple of his men to the hospital. The others stay behind until the authorities arrive. Stefan watches all of this helplessly. He had never been in a situation that involved a child; all his skills were rendered useless when it came to comforting a toddler.

**What do you think? Please review. Next update will be tomorrow. It will also be a short chapter (That's why the updates are so close).**


	7. Four Parts

So, this one is _very _short. It's also written differently then the others. It's written in different people's POV's, but I didn't write who's they are. It's kind of like my little experiment. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter Seven

Part one

Never Thought I'd be here

I open my eyes to find myself in a white room.

The lights are blinding. People rush around me.

I try to protest as a doctor puts an oxygen mask on my face.

The voices sound like they are so far away.

I want to tell them that I am okay.

As I open my mouth, nothing comes out except for a hot red liquid.

Blood, I realize idly, runs down my chin.

"He's coding!" I hear someone yell out in the distance.

What does that even mean? The darkness consumes me again.

I never thought I'd be here, where the blackness is welcoming.

I can feel my heart stop and my breath comes up short.

Is this death? And then all thoughts cease to exist.

I never thought I'd be here again.

Part two

I'd rather be dead

I run to her as fast as I can.

The man grabs me from behind and hits me on the head.

His punches hurt and I can't think straight.

I don't care, as long as my baby is safe.

I hear the searing crack as a bone breaks.

The pain is unbearable.

I ask him to stop, but he doesn't listen.

The pain is gone; there is only darkness enveloping me.

I close my eyes as he finally stops.

I fall into a deep sleep.

When I open my eyes again, I don't know where I am.

It feels like we're moving.

And then I feel the pain in my head.

It hurt so much, at the moment I'd rather be dead.

Part Three

No One Stands Alone

The little girl cries softly in my arms.

I comfort her as much I can.

When we get to the hospital, we wait.

Damon is our friend.

We will not let him battle through this alone.

In my line of work, we don't leave our men behind.

We are a team, a family.

No one stands alone.

Part Four

I Stand Apart

I need to hunt before I go in there.

There will be so much blood that I won't be able to bear.

As I enter the too white hallways,

I pass by grieving family members

And others, smiling with new life.

I watch as Damon's friends wait for news.

They are like the family I will never have.

The little girl sleeps in the chiefs arms.

She whimpers in her sleep.

There is nothing I can do but wait and watch.

I stay in the background; I do not belong.

I am alone; I stand apart.

**It'd be awesome to know what you guys think about this one. Next update will most likely be on Monday (family day!)**


	8. Waiting for News

Hey, here's my next chapter. It's another short one, but the next ones will be longer. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Waiting for News

"Salvatore family?" A doctor comes out with a clipboard in his hand. The fire fighters and Stefan stand up. The other fire fighters who had stayed at the scene had arrived at the hospital two hours earlier. The doctor looks at them quizzically. Stefan walks up to him.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore, his brother." The doctor looks over at all of them as he speaks. They slowly sit back down. Miranda is still sleeping in John Clark's arms.

"Your brother suffered some internal bleeding, but we got it under control. He's stable now and we'd like to keep him for observation for the week. He's resting right now and he'll be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. He'll need physiotherapy and a lot of support. He's going to go through physical and psychological challenges."

"What are the extent of his injuries?" Sergeant Kaplan asks.

"His tibia is fractured, he's got two cracked ribs, a broken nose and he had internal bleeding." He says. Stefan looks like he's going to pass out. His older brother almost died and he hadn't been there to save him. He should've kept a closer eye on him; his brother was human now.

"Elena" he croaks. "What about Elena Gilbert?" The doctor shakes his head.

"I'm not her doctor but I'll get her for you." Stefan nods numbly. The fire fighters get up and they all pat him on the back.

"It'll be alright son." The chief says. "None of us stand alone. We're all a family now, okay?" Stefan nods unconvinced.

A female doctor walks into the waiting room.

"Hello, I'm Doctor White. I'm looking for Miss Gilbert's family."

"We are." They all say together. It was surprising how quickly the fire fighters had adopted her as family.

"This is her daughter." Stefan points to the still sleeping Miranda. The doctor nods sadly.

"Miss Gilbert has a broken wrist and bruised ribs. Her brain has swelled due to getting hit in the head and if we can't get the swelling down she could go in a permanent coma or die. She might also have some brain damage. We will try our best to get her better and we will update you every half hour." As the doctor walks away Stefan's world turns black as he collapses on the ground. He sits against the wall with a blank expression on his face.

"Are you alright?" Lieutenant Darwin asks in concern. He knelt down beside Stefan. Stefan stumbles to his feet and nods. He thanks the firemen before running out of the hospital, in utter loss of what to do next.

Damon awakes with a humongous head ache. He looks around the white room. He didn't know where he was. A lady with scrubs walks into the room.

"Mister Salvatore, how are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" he asks, looking around frantically.

"You're in the hospital; you were emitted here last night." He furrows his brow, and then he remembers the previous night.

"Elena." He says in a panic. "I have to get to Elena." He tries to get up, but can't, the pain was too unbearable. He yells out in pain.

"What the hell's wrong with me?" He yells out.

"Mister Salvatore, calm down please." She pushes his shoulders down unto the bed. He calms down, but is still breathing heavily.

"The police informed us that you were beaten pretty badly, probably by a gang of men. The police will come in to question you about it when you're up to it." Damon only nods, eyes glazed over by the pain. The nurse gives him painkillers and he starts to feel drowsy again.

"What- what are my injuries?" He asks half asleep.

"Your tibia, the bone in your leg, is fractured." He looks down to see his leg in a cast.

"Great." He mumbles.

"That's not all; you also have two cracked ribs." That explained the pain he felt in his abdomen.

"You also broke your nose and you suffered a mild concussion, when you were admitted in the hospital your body went through some complications, you had some internal bleeding. You crashed; you almost died Mister Salvatore, so take it easy from now on." Damon looks at her not believing what she told him.

"So much for my handsome face." He says sarcastically. The nurse just shakes her head as a small smile graces her features; she walks off as he falls to sleep. Damon didn't want to think of his injuries; he was in shock. Would he still be able to be a fire fighter? These injuries were life altering.

VD

The blue skies are welcoming and peaceful. The birds chirp and the water laps softly against the beach shore. In the middle of a lake is a canoe. There is a woman sitting in the canoe. She is wearing a white dress and her hair is tied back with white flowers. Her skin glows and she has a beautiful aura surrounding her. She looked like an angel; beautiful and innocent. She dipped her hand in the water and hummed a quiet song her mother used to sing to her.

"Mommy." She hears through her imaginary world.

"Wake up."

Elena closes her eyes. She doesn't want to be bothered, this place was so peaceful. She took her hand out of the water and lies quietly in the canoe as it went further and further away from the dock.

**That's all for now folks. Please review.**


	9. Keep Still, my Heart

Hey everyone here's the next update. It's a longer one, so I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for the firefighters. ;)

Chapter Nine

Keep still, my Heart

"Mom."

The young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes softly whispered as she saw her mother walk up to her. Elena was in her room, she was five again.

"Mom, it's been so long. I thought you were dead." The young girl said. Her mother sat behind her and started brushing her hair. She started to sing a lullaby to her.

"Baby." Miranda says, hugging her daughter. "I missed you."

"Mommy." Elena says turning around to her. "I love you. Can I stay here with you?" Her mother shakes her head sadly.

"No, baby you have many more years left, it's not time for you yet." She says, resuming brushing her hair. "You need to wake up and get back to your own baby."

Elena turns back around to look at her mother. She's a teenager now.

"What baby?" She asks curiously. "Don't be ridiculous, Ma." Her mother grabs her hand and brings her to the door of her bedroom.

"Wake up, baby. I'll see you in your dreams. It's time for you to wake up." Elena walks through the door with her mother. When she turns around to speak with her, no one is there.

The scenery morphs into the peaceful lake, but soon the lake morphs into a dark forest. The flowers are lilting, water droplets run down them as if they are crying. The moon is a bloody red tint and the trees stand eerily on each side of her. _Wake up_, an inside voice screams at her, _wake up!_ The scene morphs once again to a bright white room, with people rushing around her.

"She's awake." Someone says. She looks around the room questioningly.

"What?" she tries to say, but nothing comes out. She realizes with horror that she's choking; there's a long tube in her mouth. A doctor takes it out for her. She tries to talk again but her throat is too dry. A nurse passes her a cup of water. He helps her as she sips the refreshing liquid. The doctor does the normal battery of tests on her, including an MRI. When she gets back to her room she croaks to her doctor: "What happened to me?" The doctor looks at her concerned.

"Do you remember anything?" She shakes her head gingerly. "What was the last thing you remember?" She pauses to think about this for a moment.

"Going to school last Monday. It's my senior year." She adds. The doctor looks at her concerned. According to his records she was twenty-two, she had graduated four years earlier. He tells her what has happened to her.

"Sweetheart," he says cautiously, "You have amnesia. I'm afraid you don't remember the last four years of your life." Elena looks at him questioningly, she looked so innocent.

"You'll be hospitalized for the next week and then you'll have to go through therapy and probably see a psychologist every day until you regain your memory." Elena looks as though she is going to cry.

The fire chief was beat, he had stayed the night in the hospital and it was three in the afternoon the next day. Elena's friends had arrived at the hospital in a rush at three in the morning when they had been informed by Stefan what had transpired. Stefan still hadn't gotten back. The chief would have left then, but Miranda wouldn't let him go. She was scared; no child should have witnessed what she had seen. Elena's friends consisted of two girls and one boy. The boy held one of the girls hand, rubbing comforting circles on her back as she cried. The other sat alone; she was unbelievably calm and quiet. John had told them what had happened. The calm one had tried to take Miranda from him, but Miranda would have none of that. It was early in the afternoon and as much as he didn't want to leave the girl alone, he was tired and needed to get to his family. When Miranda fell asleep in the afternoon he gently set her in the calm girl's arms and then left the hospital.

After Stefan had left the hospital he went to Bonnie's house. When she had opened the door to him she looked frantic.

"Stefan" she sighed. "Is Elena with you?" He shook his head sadly and explained to her what had happened. When they were sitting in the living room with Meredith and Matt, Bonnie asked him: "Why would people do that to them?" Stefan looked as clueless as they were.

"We won't be able to find out anything until Damon and Elena wake up."

"What about Miranda?" Matt asks. He had been filled in on the situation that night, when Bonnie had called him in a panic. He had been surprised to say the least, but he was now on board to help his old friend and ex-girlfriend.

"Miranda's fine. She's with the fire chief, John Clark." Bonnie gets up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"We need to get to the hospital." Everyone had agreed and left in a hurry. Stefan stayed behind, too scared to see his older brother so broken. He had a lot of questions running through his head: how did his brother manage to call to him with his mental voice and why would people want to hurt the two people closest to him? He went into the forest to hunt and to sort out his questions.

Tank lay in a ditch; a dead heap. The demons had been furious, there colleague had ruined there plan. Tank had laughed at them saying it was for fun. They had not agreed. Yes, they wanted to have fun, but now they had to wait until they were out of the hospital; out of the public's eye. They also had to wait until Damon could walk on his own two feet, but they knew a way to speed up his healing process, thanks to the chip. To add to everything else, they probably also found out that demons were after them and not vampires. They had killed Tank for his stupidity and then made a new plan. Soon evil would rise again.

Two police officers entered into Damon's hospital room. One had greying brown hair and looked as though he had eaten one too many donuts. The other one was younger; he looked as though he was a rookie. He stayed behind his older colleague. He was quite short and had blonde, almost white hair with eerie blue eyes.

"Damon Salvatore, I'm officer Young and this is probationary officer Lee. We're here to question you about the attack. Do you mind if we sit?" The older one, Young, asked as he pulled out a chair and sat himself down. Before Damon could make a remark about the red jelly on his black shirt the man started to question him.

"Could you tell us every detail you remember about the attack and what the man looked like?" Lee takes out a notepad and pencil and prepares himself to write down the information. Damon recounts the event to the two men.

"Are you sure it was just one man?" Lee asked giving him a disbelieving looked.

"Dead serious." Damon smiles; it could've literally been the truth if he had actually died.

"You went through quite the ordeal mister Salvatore. Maybe things are a little fuzzy?" Young asks.

"No, I remember quite clearly, it was just one man. I recognized him from the bar I went to the previous night. His name's Tank, he's about 6'4'', 300 lbs, black eyes, black Mohawk with a tattoo of a pentagram. His arms were also covered in tattoos of satanic symbols." He explained, though he didn't divulge them in the fact that the man was a demon. Lee wrote all the information down hurriedly. Young sighs.

"That's quite a detailed description."

"Well, when his fist lands in your face a couple of times, you tend to remember what the bastard looks like." Damon said venomously. The officers looked at him startled.

"If you remember anything else, contact us." Young says, struggling out of his chair. He hands Damon a contact card.

"Sure will." Damon says adding fake peppiness to his voice.

"Thank you for your cooperation. We'll contact you if we get any information." Young leaves the room and Lee follows him like a little puppy.

"Bunch of idiots." Damon grumbles and he settles back into a restless sleep.

VD

"Family of Damon Salvatore." Someone yelled out. Meredith stood up with Miranda on her hip. She cuddled her head further into her shoulder blades. It was eight at night and Miranda had been good and quiet all day, it was almost like she knew there was something wrong. Bonnie and Matt sat sleeping in the waiting chairs.

"Yes." Meredith said. The doctor walked up to them.

"Mister Salvatore is awake; you can go see him now. We'll discuss about his care after your visit." Meredith nodded at the doctor as he led her to Damon's room. When Meredith entered the room, she saw Damon playing with the IV in his arm; he had a permanent scowl on his face.

"Damon." She said quietly. He snapped his head towards her, regretting it immediately as he felt a dull pain begin in his head. He had a bandage on his nose and he was purple under the eyes. His foot stuck out of the blankets; he had a cast on.

"You look like shit." She tells him. He scowls at her.

"You get beaten up by a man and tell me you look peachy." He says sarcastically. His eyes strayed toward the little girl resting in Meredith's arms; she was asleep. All he could see was her black hair and her tiny body. Her arms were lazily resting on Meredith's neck, her hands were fisted. Her feet dangled as Meredith had a hand under her bum. She was adorable. Meredith notices his gaze.

"She's a good kid; quiet too." _Total contrast to you_, she thinks.

"She's two." She adds. "She looks a lot like her father." She hints. He doesn't catch on, and his face falls.

"Where is her father?" he asks darkly. Meredith looks up at him expectantly. Miranda starts to stir at the sound of voices.

"Momma?" she asks. She looks around curiously. She spots Damon and their eyes lock. She cocks her head to the side questioningly.

"Know whewe momma is?" He stares at her, unable to answer.

"Do you see it?" Meredith asks. His eyes look at her in awe.

"But, but it's impossible. She never told me." He stutters.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you, but Damon no matter how many times you look at her, she's your daughter." He looked furthermore shocked.

He knew by looking at her that he was her father, but hearing it out loud made it even more real. He had never thought in a million years that he would be a father and here she was as living proof to the contrast of that. The first time he had seen her he hadn't really_ seen_ her, he had only seen Elena's eyes. Miranda looks up questioningly at Meredith for Damon hadn't answered her.

"Whewe momma?" Meredith didn't know how to answer her. She knew it wasn't her place but she said: "Mir, this is your daddy. Do you wanna sit next to daddy?" Miranda looks around her apprehensively.

"Daddy?" she says looking at Meredith. She nods. She seems to think this over. She had never had a daddy and the children at daycare did. She decided that this man looked alright to be her daddy.

"Okay." She says cheerfully, shrugging her shoulders.

Damon looked scared, Meredith noticed. He had never looked so scared and shell shocked for as long as she knew him. She set Miranda down in a chair next to Damon's bed. She didn't stay there for very long. She got out of her chair and tried climbing up unto Damon's bed. He just watched her as she struggled. He couldn't help her even if he wanted to. Meredith helped her niece up unto the bed. Miranda stared into Damon's black eyes as he stared into her blue ones. She laid her head unto his sore shoulder and then quickly fell asleep. Damon was freaking out on the inside. He felt like his heart and head might explode with this new revelation. Meredith sat next to him.

"Calm down Damon." She says looking up at the heart monitor.

"I…I don't know what to do." He confesses.

"Just let her sleep. Things will work itself out." Damon just stares down at the sleeping child on his shoulder as he too falls asleep. Meredith quietly leaves the room as she feels her heart constrict at the sight before her.

**Damon finally found out! Yay! What will he do next? Please review.**


	10. I Don't Remember

Hey thanks for all the reviews! If anyone that reads this watches Smallville, I just wanted to say that tonight's episode was awesome! It was so hilarious! Anyway, back to Vampire Diaries... Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter Ten

I Don't Remember

Elena lay in her bed, as she picked the lint off the blanket covering her.

_Four years? How can I not remember four years?_ She wondered to herself.

Bonnie and Matt walked into her room. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her friends. She extended her arms out for hugs; she had a small cast on her left wrist. Bonnie hugged her gently and so did Matt.

"You guys look different... older." She says. Bonnie notices that Elena's face has lost all its worry lines and she looks as young and beautiful as she did in high school. Matt laughs.

"Well, unfortunately we are older."

"What has happened over the past four years?" She asks casually.

"Elena, you know we can't tell you. The doctor told us you have to come by your memories on your own." Elena smiles.

"Well, I had to try, didn't I? Where's Stefan?" She asks, changing topics. Bonnie and Matt look at each other nervously.

"We don't know. We haven't seen him since he informed us about you and Damon."

"Damon?" she asks. Bonnie elbows Matt for his slip up.

"Yeah, you both got beaten up pretty badly." Elena looks at them quizzically.

"Yeah, but he's a vampire. He can heal." Bonnie shakes her head. She needed to tell Elena this part of the present; there was no way around it.

"Elena, don't freak out, but Damon's been a human for the past three years." Elena tries to keep a straight face but ends out bursting out laughing.

"Damon? A human? God, I wish I could remember his reaction to that!" She exclaims.

Bonnie and Matt remember the morning Damon had been freaking out, insisting that he couldn't breathe, hear or see. They also burst out laughing.

VD

After hunting and fighting his inner demons Stefan had finally decided he would go to the hospital. He couldn't bear to see his brother just yet so he found the room that Elena was staying in. To his surprise he heard laughter coming out of her room. She was awake! He rushed into the room to find the trio trying to catch their breath.

"What is all this?" He asks with a smile on his face. Everyone looks over at him, Elena's face lights up. Bonnie is the one that answers him.

"We were just talking about when Damon became a human." Stefan nods.

"Yes, well, when everyone was bursting out in laughter, I was furious. He stole my humanity!" Elena looks up in surprise.

"He stole your humanity? How did he do that?" Stefan furrows his brows.

"She has amnesia." Matt states. "She can't remember the last four years."

"Miranda?" He whispers questioningly. Matt shakes his head sadly.

Stefan answers Elena's question, telling her the story about how Damon stole his humanity. To her and the other humans it had been hilarious, but to the vampire, it was not. He had wanted so desperately to be human. Elena extends her arms to him and he hugs her. She pushes him slightly away and kisses him. Stefan is taken by surprise. Elena looks curiously at Stefan when he doesn't respond.

"What's wrong?" she questions him.

"Um… uh… I need to go." He says, rushing out of the room. He knew that if he told Elena the truth in her state that it wouldn't be good for her psyche. Back in the room, Elena looks at the empty doorway dejectedly.

"Uh… He's just stressed, you know." Matt tries lamely at hiding the truth.

"Yeah." Elena says unconvinced.

Stefan was still reeling over the kiss. He hadn't felt her lips on his in over four years. He had wanted to kiss her back, but he couldn't; he couldn't betray his brother like that. He walked to the room the doctor had said was Damon's room. He was caught by surprise at the sight before him. The little girl he had quickly met the night before was asleep next to Damon. He had seen the resemblance between the two before, but seeing there faces side by side was shocking. They looked so alike. He left the room to leave father and daughter to there slumber. He walked into the waiting room to find Meredith sitting in a chair. He sat in the vacant chair next to her.

"Hey." She says.

"Elena's up." He says casually.

"I know." She says. "Only two visitors at a time." She explains. He nods slowly.

"Well, I'll stay here with you until Bonnie and Matt come back." She looks into his eyes.

"Thank you." She says sincerely.

Damon woke up when he felt something move next to him. His eyes snapped open as he found a pair of blue eyes staring back at him. She sits up and says: "Hi, daddy." Damon is taken aback. He had only met her the previous night and she was comfortable enough to call him daddy. Or, maybe, he thought, it was because children were so innocent and trusting.

"Hello." He says, trying to stretch and then groans in pain. She gently touches his nose.

"A booboo." She says.

"Yeah. It's broken." He says matter-of-factly.

"Mommy kisses booboos better." She says leaning down to gently kiss his nose. It took all his will power not to yell out in pain as she kissed him on the nose.

"Better?" She asks. He only nods as he clenches his teeth.

"Want down." She says.

"I can't get you down, I'm hurt." He says. She looks at him frustrated.

"I hungwy."

"Me too. Nurse!" He calls out as he sees a nurse walk by. She halts and then walks into his room.

"Mister Salvatore." She says, recognizing him from the previous night. "Is there anything you need?"

"Uh, yeah." He says. "When's lunch?"

"In a half hour." She informs him.

"Okay. Uh… one other thing. Could you find Meredith Sulez for me? Miranda wants down and probably wants to play around. I can't really do anything right now." She smiles at him and then down at the little girl.

"Your daughter?" she asks. For the first time in his life he said: "Yes, this is my daughter." She smiles at the little family and leaves the room to find his friend.

**Awww. What do you guys think? Please review.**


	11. Stefan's Question and Decisions

Aloha everyone! Here's the next chapter (almost 3 000 words). I hope you like it. My next update will be on Wednesday, just to let you know.

Disclaimer: As usual I do not own any of these characters or the story... so don't sue.

Chapter Eleven

Part One: Stefan's Question

Damon hadn't seen Elena for the past five days that he had stayed at the hospital. Meredith and Bonnie took care of Miranda during those days. Today he was being discharged from the hospital. His brother was wheeling him out of the hospital in a wheel chair. Damon really hated it when he felt dependant on somebody; especially his little brother. When he got up, his ribs hurt like hell. He bit his lip to keep himself from yelling out in pain. His nose was still bandaged, but his eyes weren't as purple underneath as they were before. When they arrived at the boarding house Mrs. Flowers gave him some herbal tea. He felt much better. Stefan looked as though he was contemplating on whether to talk to him about something.

"Just spit it out." Damon says, surprising his brother out of his train of thought.

"I don't understand. You're not a vampire anymore and you were still able to communicate with me telepathically. How?" Damon has a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"Because I'm special." Stefan scowls at him.

"That shouldn't have been possible."

"Don't you think I know that Saint Stefan? I have no clue how it happened. Maybe it's like the way Elena could do stuff with her aura." He shrugs.

"Elena was an angel, you weren't. You are far from it."

"The Gods see potential in me. They see how good I am." Stefan couldn't help but snort at his brother's self loving remark.

"Yeah well maybe Sage will have the answers to my question."

"If you can find him." Damon says.

Stefan leaves the room and goes to his room.

Damon wondered if his telepathy was a one time thing. He hoped not. He liked to think that even as a human he could have powers. He knew that if he did have powers that it had definitely not been the Gods who gave it to him. He knew he was going to Hell when he died. He had a theory: So many years of living on human blood and being the most powerful vampire= residual powers when he became human. He drifted off to sleep while he pondered the possibilities.

Stefan watched as his brother slept peacefully for the first time in a week. Now that his brother was home safe he would do some investigating in the attack. From what his brother had told him, it had only been one man that attacked them; a demon he suspected. What troubled him though, was the ever present question of why. Why would a demon attack two humans, leave the child behind and not kill them. It didn't make any sense. If the demon had wanted them dead, they'd surely be dead; if he had wanted to kidnap the child she would have been taken. So why would he attack them if it didn't benefit him? None of it made any sense. Stefan thought over all the possibilities and came to the conclusion that maybe the demon wanted to scare them; like a teaser to what was coming in the future. If there is a war ahead of them, he would have to contact as many allies as he could.

VD

Elena stared at a spot on the wall; she was waiting for her doctor. Hopefully, if her scan results were good she would be discharged the next morning. Her doctor walks in with a clipboard.

"Hello Elena, how are you feeling today?" she asks.

"Good. My head still hurts a little, but I feel alright."

"Any new memories?" Elena shakes her head sadly. The doctor puts on an encouraging smile.

"Good news, you can go home tomorrow, but I want you to see a psychiatrist every day until we can unlock those memories of yours, okay?" Elena nods; eager to get back home.

She couldn't wait to see Margaret and Aunt Judith. Meredith had told her that they were gone on a trip and that had beeen why they hadn't come to see her yet; because they didn't know. The doctor leaves her room after quickly checking her vitals.

VD

"Meredith, what are we going to do?" Bonnie asks frantically. They had just returned from the hospital and Elena had told them she was going home the next day.

"Calm down, Bonnie. Take a deep breath. Okay." She says, also taking a deep breath.

"We can say her aunt is still gone, she can stay here for the time being." Bonnie looks panicky again. She looks over at Miranda who's playing with her blocks.

"What are we going to do with Miranda?" She takes Meredith by the shoulders and shakes her.

"Well, she can't go to my place, I only have a couch. I don't even have a bed for myself. Matt?" He shakes his head.

"Can't. I'm still with my parents. If they see Miranda they'll know something's up and they'll contact Judith."

"What if Elena goes to the boarding house?" Meredith suggests.

"No!" Both Matt and Bonnie yell out at the same time. Meredith looks at them surprised.

"It'll be a disaster." Matt explains. Meredith nods, understanding them now.

"Well what if Miranda goes there then?"

"She'll be bored and Damon can't take care of her in his condition and Stefan would have to leave to hunt." They look at each other; not knowing what to do.

"One thing we know for sure; Elena can't know about Miranda yet, it could ruin her memory progress." They sit, pondering over their options.

"I think the boarding house is our only option." Bonnie says somberly.

Part Two:

Decisions

Miranda was coming over and Damon was a nervous wreck. He half walked, half hopped his way to the other side of the room; he was cleaning it to make it child friendly. Stefan had been wary about Miranda coming over, but he later agreed when Matt had added that it was for Elena's benefit. Damon quickly cleaned his bathroom, coming upon his own reflection in the mirror. He still looked awful, though he wasn't purple under the eyes anymore; he still had a bandage on his nose. The door bell rang and he quickly hobbled down the stairs.

"I'm coming!" He yelled out. Meredith enters the house, followed by a suddenly shy Miranda.

"Hi Miranda." He says. Miranda hugs Meredith's leg.

"Go on Miranda, say hello to your father." Meredith urges her. Damon's breath catches in his throat and his heart skipped a beat when Meredith had called him Miranda's father.

"Hello." Miranda says shyly, she looks up at Meredith.

"I have to go, okay?" Meredith says.

"Have to?" Miranda whines. "Wan' momma." She says. Meredith shakes her head.

"Your mommy can't see you right now, but when she gets better you'll get to see your mommy." Miranda nods as a single tear rolls down her cheek.

Auntie Bonnie and Auntie Mer had explained to her that she would have to stay with her daddy until her mommy got better. She understood it but she didn't like it. Damon was heartbroken as his daughter reluctantly let goes of Meredith's leg and they hug farewell. Meredith walks up to him.

"This is going to be hard on both of you; I wish Elena could just remember." She says sadly. She gives Damon Miranda's toys, her clothes, playpen, and a car seat and gives him a list of things to feed her. Miranda was potty trained so that was a bonus for all of them, though she needed to wear a diaper at night.

"She likes it when you rub her back, play with her and she doesn't like to be left alone. Oh and also her bedtime is at seven thirty, she doesn't like to sleep alone." Meredith says; hating to have to leave the little girl that she had already fallen in love with.

"Someone will be over every day to check up on things." She adds. She sighs loudly.

"Things are so damn complicated. Miranda doesn't deserve for her mother not to remember her. Damon, if anything happens to her, you'll wish you died during the Renaissance." He chuckles.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Meredith. Thank you... for telling me about her. It means a lot to me." She only nods at him. She bends down and hugs Miranda.

"Bye baby." She strokes her black hair and then leaves the two people who had absolutely no clue what to make of each other.

Miranda looks up shyly into Damon's black eyes, seeing that he wouldn't hurt her like the big man did, she lifted her arms up in the air. Damon didn't know what to do; his daughter wanted up, but he still had two very sore ribs. He picks her up anyway, biting back the pain. He sits on the stairs and rocks her back and forth; she falls asleep in his arms.

Stefan walks into the house to find Damon with a sleeping Miranda in his arms. He was sitting on the stairs.

"Oh thank God." Damon sighs. "Could you take her upstairs? I've been sitting here for at least 45 minutes waiting for you." Stefan gave his brother a quizzical look.

"She fell asleep, I... I didn't want to wake her up." He explains hesitantly.

"Big brother, have you grown soft?" Stefan asks mockingly.

Damon snarls at him as Stefan grabs Miranda out of his arms. His arms felt heavy and numb but his soul felt empty without her near him. He hopped his way up the stairs, wincing at the pain in his ribs. He should've brought his crutches, he thought idly.

VD

It was mid afternoon and Elena felt exhausted. She went upstairs into the guest bedroom and lay down unto the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.

"_Elena." A howl in the wind. _

_"Elena." This time, louder. Elena slowly turns her body around to face a woman. She looked familiar, put she couldn't place her. _

_"Elena." She says coming closer to her, placing her hand on her shoulder. _

_"You need to remember Elena." _

_"Who are you?" Elena asks confused. _

_"That isn't important right now. What is important is that you try and remember these past four years, and then my identity will come to you. You have a long journey ahead of you. There is a war coming." The wind starts howling, whipping Elena's hair around. The woman looks up worried. _

_"Remember." She says before disappearing into the wind. The scene changes._

"_You see now you're making her cry." Elena turned around to look at the scene before her. It was night time. Damon, Matt and she were standing outside. The other Elena was only wearing a nightgown. Damon and Matt were glaring at each other. _

_"_I_ am? I'm not the one who mentioned my dear departed younger brother?" What were they arguing about? Elena wondered. _

"Just stop it! Right now! _Both of you." Elena yelled out surprising the one that was observing her. All eyes were on her now. _

_"And I don't want this _pencil_ if you don't mind." She was holding a pencil out in front of herself. Damon took it from her. Elena looks as though she is going to fall, but then Damon catches her. Damon looks at Matt. _

_"What she needs is fresh air, and I'm going to give it to her." Damon picks her up and Damon starts to hover into the black sky. The conversation was getting a little harder to hear, so Elena floated her spirit body up to where Damon and she were. It was odd watching herself. _

_"Damon, could you please put me down?" Elena asks. _

_"Right now, Darling? It's quite a distance..." Damon teased. _

_Elena shivered. Damon looks as though he is going to take his jacket off. Elena protests by saying: "No, no- you just drive- fly, I mean, and I'll just hang on." She looked quite frazzled. _

_"And watch for low-going seagulls." Damon said solemnly. Elena turned her face away as a tiny smirk appeared on his face. _

_"So, just when did you learn that you could pick people up and drop them on cars?" _

_"Oh, just recently. It was like flying: a challenge. And you know I like challenges." Damon said with mischief in his eyes. _

_They stared at each other with love in their eyes. It was so blatantly obvious that they were in love to an outsider, but not to the two of them. Elena blushed; both Elena's. Elena, the one observing this scene felt a warmth grow in her heart, warmth she thought she would never have for Damon Salvatore. She looked away from the scene, leaving the other two floating in their own peaceful world, even if it had been short lived. Then the scene changed again._

"_Miranda." Elena calls out. Elena watches herself. A little girl with black hair runs out from the corner of the room. Elena gasps._

Elena is abruptly awoken by a tapping at her door. She gets up off the bed and opens the door. Stefan is standing outside of her room, his hands awkwardly in his jean pockets.

"Stefan!" She exclaims and she launches herself into his arms. He hugs her back hesitantly; her love didn't feel right anymore. He clears his throat and enters the room. He sits on her bed.

"How are you?" He asks, looking at her up and down to check for any other injuries. As he suspected there aren't any.

"I'm alright. I think I started to remember... well until you knocked on the door. I can't seem to remember the last part of my dream. I remember when Damon and I were searching for you. It must've been hard for you to be in that prison. It's horrible what they did to you." Tears streamed down her cheeks. Stefan hugs her comfortingly.

"Shh..." He says, brushing her hair with his fingers. "I'm here now. I'm alright now. It's in the past. You and Damon saved me." Elena nods and gives him a watery smile.

"How's Damon?" She half whispers.

"He's doing alright, hobbles everywhere. He can't keep still. The doctors told him to rest, but he's stubborn." He trails off at the end of his sentence.

"I should be going." Stefan says quickly getting up off the bed. Elena looks as though her heart just got crushed.

"I'll be back." He reassures her. He kisses her forehead as he silently leaves the room. Elena sighs frustrated as she plops herself unto her bed.

VD

"It's time." Morpheus, one of the demons, said with conviction in his voice. "Activate the device."

**As always please review. More reviews=faster updates.**


	12. Call Me Aunt Judith

Hello everybody! I just fixed the problems I had earlier. I hope to update soon.

Disclaimer: I'm tired of writing these, but here it goes: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING.

Chapter Twelve

Call Me Aunt Judith

Morning came all too soon for Damon. He was abruptly awakened by someone poking him on the shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes to find a blue pair of eyes staring back at him.

"Wake up. Want pway."

"Ugh. Give me a minute kid." He says, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. She grabs his hand and pulls.

"Now." She demands.

He steps out of bed and hops to his dresser and takes out his clothes. Once he's dressed he realizes that Miranda was still in her pyjamas. He takes out her bag of clothes.

"Arms up." He says, pulling off her shirt and puts on a cute pink t-shirt. Then he takes off her PJ pants and goes to put on new pants.

"No." She says stubbornly.

"Come on. Please cooperate." He begs her. She points to her diaper.

"Underwore." He shakes his head and takes off her diaper apprehensively.

"This is so wrong." Then he puts her on a new pair of underwear and her little jeans. She beams at him.

"Good job." She pats him on the shoulder. He chuckles. The doorbell rings.

"Okay." He sighs. "Now we have to figure out a way to get down stairs." He grabs his crutches and hops down the stairs. Miranda stays close behind. Oddly enough his ribs weren't as sore as the previous night. The doorbell rings again.

"I'm coming!" He yells out. Before he opens the door, he turns around to Miranda.

"Miranda, go find Uncle Stefan, okay?" She smiles at him and says: "Okay." She runs off in the direction of Stefan's room. Damon opens the door and is shocked to see who is on the other side.

"Judith?"

VD

Elena tosses and turns in her sleep remembering her forgotten memories.

"_Damon, I love you." She whispered to him as he kisses her passionately. He looks at her in the eyes. _

_"I love you too." He says, surprising her. She grabs his head, bringing her lips crashing down unto his..._

_

* * *

_

_Elena got up on her elbows. She looked at Damon as he slept, he was so peaceful, so handsome, but she needed to leave. She brushed her lips unto his. He surprised her for the millionth time that night and started kissing her back..._

* * *

_Elena woke up early enough that morning. This time she didn't kiss him goodbye. She went to get up off the bed but he was lying on his back, watching her. _

_"You're beautiful." He said. Elena wanted to cry. Her heart had been ripped into a million pieces. She loved Damon, she loved Stefan... She had betrayed Stefan. _

_"Damon, I'm sorry I have to go." Elena says suddenly. She gets up and dresses hurriedly, tripping on her pant leg. She looks back at Damon one last time. He looked heartbroken..._

_

* * *

_

_Elena drove away, her hands gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles were turning white. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was leaving behind her life; everything that she knew, everyone that she loved..._

* * *

"Damon, it's so nice to see you. I heard about your accident. How are you?" Judith asked Damon. It was odd; Judith had never visited him before.

"I'm doing alright." He answered. Judith eyed the inside of the room. Damon hopped out of the way and let her in. She sat herself down on the sofa in the living room. Damon stood in front of her expectantly.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase, because I know you're not here out of concern for me. What do you want?" Judith looked insulted and then she turned serious.

"Yes, you're right Damon. I... I need your help." This confused him, what could he possibly do for her?

"And what would you need my help for?" He asked cocking an eyebrow.

"I heard you were the one to go to... But, you don't seem like one of them..." She trailed off. Damon hoped she wasn't talking about what he thought. He cracked a smile.

"One of what?" He asked casually, as if he had no clue what she was talking about.

"A... this will sound ridiculous, but they said you were a vampire." If Damon had a drink at that moment he would spit it out.

"A vampire?" He said laughing, wanting to make her believe that it was ridiculous.

"Obviously they were wrong. I'm sorry, I feel like an idiot." She says shaking her head. He grabs her arm before she leaves.

"Who were they?" He asked seriously. She hesitated, looking away.

"They were big looking fellows, ugly and scarred, creepy looking eyes. One of them was named Morpheus, he was the leader, I think. He said if I didn't get your attention that he would hurt Margaret." Damon shook his head; the demons, he knew it was them.

"What do you need my help for?" He asked seriously.

"They kidnapped Robert." She whispered, her eyes tearing up. "I don't know what's going on, but please help me find him." Damon nodded.

"I'll find him." He says, without any doubt.

"What they said... Was it true?"

"No." He said firmly. "Not anymore. I used to be one of them." She looked confused.

"It's a long story Judith. My brother is still a vampire, he can help us." Judith's eyes go huge.

"So they were telling the truth?"

"Yes." She looked amazed.

"You need to tell me this story when things aren't so serious." Damon shakes his head and smiled.

"That could take awhile." Judith sits back down; Damon had been expecting her to leave. He sighs and rolls his eyes.

"So, what's the plan?" She asks.

"Nah uh. You're not part of the plan. You can go home to Margaret and leave this to me and my brother." She gets up and goes to Damon.

"They took my husband! I am in this whether you like it or not." Damon shakes his head.

"You'll just get in our way. If you want your husband back let us, the vamp- men do this." He says, correcting himself.

"You can't just do this with your brother. Look at you, you're broken." Damon was getting angry.

"Well then get someone else to help you!" He yells out as Miranda rounds the corner. A scared look crosses her face.

"Daddy?" She says pouting, she runs up to him and hugs his leg. Judith looks at them surprised.

"I, uh, I didn't know you had a daughter."

"Uh, yeah, she's two."

"She's beautiful; she looks a lot like you. Where's her mother?"

"Uh..."

"Momma?" Miranda says, looking around at the sound of her the word mother. She looks at Judith, she looked a little like her momma. Judith looks into Miranda's eyes and her hearts stops. Her eyes reminded her of Elena's eyes. She wondered what her niece would have been like if she had lived to be a mother. Elena would've been a wonderful mother. Judith kneels down to the child's eye level.

"Hi there honey. I'm Judith, but you can call me Aunt Judith. What's your name?" Miranda looked up into her father's eyes. He nodded.

"Miranda." She says shyly. Judith's breath escapes her. Miranda had been the name of her sister-in-law.

"That's a nice name. I knew a very nice woman named Miranda once." Miranda just stared at the strange woman who was talking to her.

Stefan walks into the room to find an odd sight. A woman he hadn't seen in years was bent down in front of Miranda and Damon. She was holding Miranda's hands and talked with her. Judith realized he was in the room. She got up and straightened her pants.

"Stefan, it's nice to see you again. Well I better be going." She turns around to Damon.

"I'll stay out of it if you can find Robert." Damon nods.

"I'll do everything I can."

"Thank you." She sighs out. "Good-bye Miranda. It was nice meeting you." She says with a smile.

"Bye." She says in her tiny voice. Judith closes the door behind her. _This just added more complications, _Damon thought.

* * *

Elena stirred in her sleep, but kept dreaming.

_She sat on the toilet seat staring at the stick in her hands. It was ridiculous that her life depended on the little stick that she had peed on. The timer beeped and she looked down at the stick. It was positive. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby. She was going to have Damon's baby. As she sobbed on the cold bathroom tiles, she was comforted by a single thought. She was always going to have a little part of Damon with her..._

"_Ms. Stronghold?" A nurse called out. Elena read her book, unmoving. _

_"Ms. Stronghold?" The nurse called again. Elena looked up realizing that Stronghold was her new fake name. Elena got up from her seat and walked into the empty hospital room. She sat the paper covered bed, looking down at her still flat stomach. A man with a white doctor coat walked into the room. _

_"Hello Ms. Elena. How are you feeling today? Do you still have morning sickness?" _

_"I'm doing alright. Yes, I still have a little morning sickness, though it's getting better." He smiled at her. _

_"Okay, well you're far enough along that we can do an ultrasound. Would you like to see your baby?" Elena nodded eagerly. _

_"Yes, I would like that very much." The doctor left the room and came back with a machine. He squirted blue goo on her stomach. It was cold and made her flinch. Then he took out a wand-like-thing and put it on her stomach. Then the room erupted with a fast paced heart beat. Her heart filled with love and wonder. _

_"Is that the baby's?" She asked, choking up. _

_"Yes it is. And if you look right there, that's your baby." Tears streamed down her cheeks as she saw her baby for the first time, albeit the baby looked more like a tiny peanut. _

_"I'll make copies for you and then we can make another appointment." The doctor said. Elena looked at the picture on the screen. Her baby wasn't even born yet and she was already in love with it..._

_

* * *

_

Elena's radio made a loud beeping noise.

"Ugh." She said rolling out of her bed. She was six months pregnant and feeling it. She felt like a fat whale. She waddled over to the bathroom to get ready for class. The phone in her room rang. She ran (or tried) to the phone.

"Hello?" She asked as she was brushing her hair. She was going to be late for class.

"Elena?" Elena stopped brushing her hair. The brush dropped to the floor. The voice on the other line sounded so much like her Aunt Judith, but that was impossible. She thought she was dead.

"Yes?" Elena croaked out. She tried weighing the pros and cons of her aunt knowing the truth.

The pro would be that she could have someone she loved and that supported her in her life. The cons were that she was a) in hiding b) her aunt could be in danger being around her and c) she would be in trouble for lying to her aunt and causing so much grief.

_

* * *

_

Elena lay in her bed writhing in pain. She didn't know what was going on. She wasn't due for another month. She put her hand down on the bed to get up only to find it wet. She got up shocked, her water broke.

**Hey, so that's it for now. The next chapter will be a flashback about when Elena had Miranda. Please review.**

__

"Elena this is professor Callen, class for today has been cancelled. There was a fire in the science lab." Elena sighed in relief and sadness; she had wanted the woman on the other line to be her aunt more then she thought she had wanted.

"Okay, thank you professor." She heard the click of the phone and listened to the dial tone...


	13. My Baby and I

Hey, sorry it's been awhile. It's been a crazy, busy for week for me. It's March break, finally! Hopefully I can get one or two more chapters done before school starts up again. So, this chapter is a flashback written in Elena's POV, so it's a little different. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own VD or its characters.

Chapter Thirteen

My Baby and I

I am sore everywhere, it's like my body's on fire. I open my eyes slowly to see a woman wearing pink scrubs in the corner of my room. What the heck, why is she in my room? But, then I realize, this isn't my room at all. The room's white and the bed is uncomfortable. Then I remembered. I'm in the hospital. Wait! Where's my baby? I look around the room frantically.

"Nurse?" I say. She turns around surprised. She rushes up to me and checks my IV drip, that I had just realized was attached to my arm. I couldn't remember much of the previous night. I thought I would have remembered giving birth to my baby.

"Where's my baby?" I ask her.

"She's in the NICU right now. But, there's no need to worry it's just a precaution because you were a month early." I can tell that I have a worried look on my face; I can feel my heart beating a mile a minute.

"What happened to me? Why can't I remember it?" I ask her, I am so confused.

"The baby was breached; we needed to do an emergency c-section." She explained to me. That's when I remembered the doctors telling me they needed to put me under.

"Oh." That's all I could muster at that moment.

"Can I see my baby?" I didn't even know if I had had a boy or a girl!

"Is it a boy or a girl?" I asked a little ashamed that I didn't even know the gender of my baby.

"She's a beautiful little girl." She said and my heart filled with love and wonderment in that moment.

"I'll get the doctor and then we'll go see your baby. Do you need to call anybody to tell them the news?" I was saddened in that moment, but I knew what I had to say.

"No." I said. The nurse had a sympathetic look on her face and then she left the room.

My baby was in an incubator the first time I saw her. She was beautiful and she had a shock of black hair on the top of her small, pale head. She was so tiny and precious and she made my heart swell bigger than I ever thought was possible. The doctor took her out and let me hold her. She looked even tinier in my arms; she fit perfectly there. She opened her eyes to look at me and it was as though she knew who I was, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was my perfect, sweet baby. I felt a twinge in my heart that her father couldn't be here with me to meet her for the first time, but I convinced myself it was for the best.

As I stared at her, I realized I hadn't picked a name out for her. I looked at her for a moment and realized there was only one name that was right for her. Miranda. That was my mother's name. Miranda Margaret, in homage of my little sister that I hadn't seen in years. When I filled out the birth certificate I put her last name as Gilbert and I didn't put Damon's name anywhere on the birth certificate. He would never know. He could move on with his life. We left the hospital three days later to go to my apartment. The doctor's told me that my baby had recovered from her early delivery very quickly; they were a little surprised by it, but didn't admit it. Josh was nice enough to come pick us up from the hospital. He had told me once that he liked me, but I had told him that I wouldn't be going out with anyone for awhile. He had accepted that. He understood and for that we became best friends. He helped me out with the baby's room and he never asked questions about my past life. When we arrived at the apartment I was exhausted and sore. Josh brought to my room and took Miranda to hers. I knew I needed his help, but I couldn't have him get attached to her and her to him. He was my best friend but he would never be anything more. He would end up with a broken heart if anything happened between us. Though, I was too tired to tell him this now.

I slowly fell asleep. When I awoke I started to panic, I had been asleep for five hours and my baby hadn't started to cry yet. I ran to her room and found Josh fast asleep with her in his arms. I sighed in relief, they were so cute. I ran to get my camera and took a picture. Josh awoke to the flash of light.

"Hey." I whispered.

"Hi. She woke up crying. You looked so peaceful... I didn't want to wake you up." He explained. I smiled at him.

"I can't thank you enough. You're a great friend." I said as I walked over to him. His face fell and he looked down at Miranda. I knew he wanted more, but I wasn't ready yet.

"Josh." I said cautiously.

"I know you're not ready, Elena. What happened to you to make you run away from him, to hide your real name, to hide _her_?" He looked down at Miranda.

"Josh." I said again.

"I know you don't want to tell me. But, please, I know that it's none of my business. Just this once please tell me." I was too tired to argue. I told him that I had a one night stand and that I didn't want to burden him with a baby that he had with a woman he barely knew. He bought into the lie and didn't question me. He loved me and in my weak moment I thought that maybe, one day, I could love him back. We did things like a family would for awhile, until Josh got too pre-occupied with his latest girl friend. I was somewhat jealous, but I was happy he could move on from what he felt for me.

Sometimes at night I would wake up from nightmares, yelling out for Damon. When Miranda was six months old I went back to school. Josh helped me sometimes. When I found my baby sitter, Josh stopped coming over and stayed at his girlfriend's. When Miranda turned a year, we had a birthday party with a couple of my friend's from my classes and kids from my apartement building. Josh came over too, though briefly, because his girlfriend was jealous of Miranda and I, though I don't know why. It was ridiculous and I didn't like her much. She was a short brunette with crap color eyes and a horrible personality. She was nice and innocent to Josh and mean to the other's behind his back. I didn't say anything; it was none of my business. Four months later, I thanked God that he broke up with that horrible wretch. He asked me out again a few months later. I said no. He kept asking and I finally relented and went out with him. When he came to pick me up, Miranda didn't recognize him, but it made sense. He hadn't seen her in almost a year. The date went better than I thought and I was finally happy again. We kissed at the end of the date and I actually thought I had a future with him, until I went into my apartment to find the baby sitter dead. My life crashed down around me and I was running back to Damon.

* * *

I woke up from my flashbacks and everything made sense to me again. I raced down the stairs to find Bonnie.

"Bonnie!" I yelled out. "Where's Miranda?" She came out of the living room and raced over to me.

"You remember!" She exclaimed.

"Where's Miranda?" I repeated frantically.

"Uh... she's with Damon." She whispered.

"Damon?" I exclaimed. "He knows?" Bonnie nods and I felt like fainting. "Oh God. What-what was his reaction?" I was worried. My daughter was with Damon. That was a recipe for disaster. He could barely take care of himself, he was a play boy. Then I remembered how much he had changed over the years. Maybe he wasn't a lost cause.

"Meredith was the one that was there when he found out. She told me that he was shocked, but took it well... for Damon, anyway." I nod.

"Can you drive me there?" I asked her, a little calmer. She nods. When we open the door, I saw the last person I thought I would see here. Josh looked as though he was about to knock on the door.

"Oh, thank God Elena. I didn't know what happened to you. I got worried when the police found Alana's body. What happened?" he asked, hugging me. I hugged him back.

"How'd you find me?" I asked. He had a guilty look on his face.

"I, uh, snuck into the admissions office to find your information... and your real name. I was worried. I needed to know if you were okay. Sorry?" He said.

"It's okay. I forgive you." Bonnie gives us a questioning look.

"Oh, Bonnie McCullough meet Josh, my uh, friend." Bonnie eyes us suspiciously.

"Boyfriend." Josh says. I elbow him. Bonnie's eyes go as huge as saucers. But, she keeps her mouth shut for once and goes into her car, I follow. So does Josh. This was going to be interesting.

"So, where are we going?" Josh asks excitedly. I didn't say anything so Bonnie answered for me.

"To the boarding house, that's where Damon Salvatore lives." He looks confused.

"Who's that?" This time it was Bonnie who didn't say anything, she knew I needed to tell him. I sighed and Bonnie looked at me sympathetically.

"He's Miranda's dad."

"Oh, the one night stand guy? Did he recognize you?" Bonnie snorted.

"How could he forget her? He was in love with her for years. I mean he didn't even get over her when she left." I groaned at Bonnie and she knew that she shouldn't have said anything.

"I thought you said the guy didn't even know you." I sighed.

"I'm sorry Josh I lied. It's very complicated."

"I'm smart Elena, I can figure it out. Tell me the truth this time." I sighed again and relented.

"I met Stefan Salvatore and fell in love with him in high school. I'm still kinda fuzzy on some things. I had amnesia for a little over a week." He looked at me quizzically.

"Then Damon came along. He was the bad boy big brother. Stefan was like day; he was the nice, do no bad kind of guy, Damon was the opposite. He was night; he was bad and dangerous. But deep down I knew he was good. He had a tortured soul; he went through a lot in his life." Bonnie chuckled and I gave her a death glare.

"Stefan went missing and we searched for him together. We started to have feelings for each other. When we came back things... changed. Then Stefan left for awhile again. I fell in love with Damon. I left because I had betrayed Stefan and would have inevitably started another war. History was repeating itself. Katherine, a girl that both brothers were in love with had betrayed them both. I had pretty much done the same thing. When I left, I didn't know I was pregnant. In a nutshell, that's it." I explained. Josh looked as though he was in some type of shock, then he snapped out of it.

"Why was your babysitter killed?" He asked finally.

"Some bad people were after us. All of us, Stefan, Damon and I. Though I don't know why yet."

We drove down the boarding house driveway. Josh looked around himself curiously. We got out of the car and we entered the boarding house without knocking on the door. I could hear Miranda playing with Damon. I entered the living room and locked eyes with Damon. My heart skipped a beat and my cheeks flushed to a deep red. Miranda looked up and ran over to me.

"Mommy!" She yelled out. I hugged her tightly. It was the first time she had ever called me mommy, she always called me momma. Damon looked behind me to Bonnie and the stranger. He looked at me questioningly. Josh came up to me and looked at Miranda, then at Damon.

"Whoa, I always thought she looked like you, but now... She looks a lot like him." To my surprise I saw Damon smile with... pride? He got up on his crutches.

"Do you remember?" He asks me. I nod, still hugging Miranda. Damon came over to me and hugged me.

"Thank God." He said. For a moment everything felt right again. Damon, Miranda and I. Then a pest cleared there throat and ruined the moment. I separated, or more like pushed, myself away from Damon.

"Um, sorry. Damon, this is Josh." I said.

"When did HE get here?" Damon grumbled.

"Actually about a half hour ago." His eyes were blazing. I needed to get control of the situation NOW. I looked at Josh and he had the same look in his eyes. War.

"Okay, boys cool it." I said.

The front door opened and in walked Stefan. All eyes were on the blonde hair, green eyed vampire. He looked over at the room full of people with surprise on his face. The tension in the room could've been sliced with a knife.

"You remember." Was all he said before all hell broke loose.

**Please review! Tell me waht you think will happen next. It's interesting to read what other's think. Anyway, I hope I can update soon.**


	14. Guys and Their Egos

Hey! Thanks for the reviews. Sorry it's been so long. I\ve been kinda busy. I hope to update at least one more timethis March break. But, after that my updates will have to be once a week. Probably every Sunday. My life is getting kinda hectic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter Fourteen

Guys and Their Egos

Damon silently glared at Josh. Josh looked angrily between Elena, Damon, Stefan and Miranda. He didn't know what to say, but the air in the room was tense. He mumbled something about Damon being a dead beat dad. Damon lunged at him and hit him in the nose. Blood spurted out of it. Josh hit him back, narrowly missing his broken nose. Damon thought back pretty well for a guy with broken bones and a near death experience. Elena yelled worriedly at them. They didn't listen. Miranda started to cry hysterically.

"Get off my daddy's back!" She yelled out. She was about to jump on Josh, but Stefan grabbed her from behind and handed her to Elena. He grabbed both Damon and Josh by their shirt front's and easily separated them from each other. Damon glared at Josh, but he looked exhausted. Josh glared back at him and was trying to make Stefan let him go. Stefan let Damon go, but kept a hold on Josh. He gave him an icy look.

"You EVER accuse my brother of any such thing and you'll wish you never met Elena Gilbert. You got it?" Josh unceremoniously cowarded away from Stefan. Josh thought there was something unsettling about the blonde man. Elena had described him as a pacifist, but right now he was definitely not that. Miranda ran to Damon. He was panting and swearing under his breath.

"Daddy." She cried out, hugging his legs. Damon bent down to grab his crutches and then sat on the couch with Miranda on his lap. Josh stood in the corner of the room. He wanted desperately to talk with Elena but he knew that if he so much as looked at her the wrong way Stefan would finish him off. Though Damon looked like the bad boy, for some reason Stefan scared him more. He watched Miranda whimpering into Damon's shirt and Damon soothed her. His eyes had a softer look to them; he didn't even look like the same guy that attacked him two minutes before. Josh realized that maybe he had judged Damon too quickly.

"Okay, I need an explanation Elena. What's going on?" Elena didn't want to explain things to Josh at the moment. She sighed.

"I'm going to stay here tonight." She declares.

"Bonnie, can you take Josh to his hotel?" Josh gave her an incredulous look.

"What?" He roars in outrage.

"I'm angry at both of you for being immature. We'll talk tomorrow. Damon, I haven't forgiven you either. You scared the crap out of Miranda for that stunt you pulled. And just to let you all know, I'm staying here tonight because it's what's best for Miranda." Stefan takes a step toward her.

"Thank you Stefan. But, I don't want to hear it. Good night." She says stomping up the stairs. Though, the moment she got up there she realized she didn't know where she was headed. She decided to stomp off to Damon's room and locked the door. Down stairs everyone gave each other uncomfortable looks. Bonnie said good-bye to the Salvatore's and left with a protesting Josh.

* * *

"Stupid, dumb, agh!" Josh said, punching the dash board.

"Hey, don't break my car." Bonnie said, glancing at Josh. He was fuming. She dropped him off at the hotel as Elena had requested.

"What about my rental?" He asked.

"Meredith, my friend, will drop it off to you in the morning. You're not in any condition to drive and I am definitely not taking the chance that you will go off to a bar." She said.

She went with him to the check in desk and made sure he entered his room before leaving. She drove back to her place and called Meredith. She had agreed to drive the car to Josh. Meredith hadn't sounded surprised when Bonnie told her that Elena had a boyfriend. She said in her calm way that she had been gone for three years, so it made sense that she had moved on. Bonnie protested, but in the end Meredith's reasoning won out.

* * *

Elena heard a soft knocking on the bedroom door.

"Go away Damon." Elena said. She knew she was being immature, but she needed to calm down. The fight had scared her more then she wanted to admit. She didn't want Damon to think that she... cared about him.

"Elena, we need to talk. I think you've waited long enough. I mean, come on, I at least deserve to know why you kept me from being in the first two years of my daughter's life." He said. He was started to get angry again. Elena wiped at her eyes. She felt weak that she had cried over a stupid fight. Damon had been in worst fights before. _But not as a human._ Elena thought.

"Where's Miranda?" Elena had finally willed herself to speak.

"She's on the couch. She fell asleep." He explained. "Please Elena let me in or I'll break this door open."

"You'll huff and puff until the door blows down? I didn't take as the big bad wolf type?" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Why are you angry with me? I should be the one that's furious. You took my daughter away from me." Elena sighed and slightly opened the door. He had to push the rest of it open. She sat on the bed her eyes red rimmed and her cheeks were tear stained. Damon ignored this and sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"Why'd you leave? Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" He softly asked. New tears made their way down her cheeks.

"I don't know." She said, pausing for a good five minutes.

"I was scared." She whispered her confession. "I was scared that I broke Stefan's heart. I was scared you'd fight each other until one of you died. I was scared of what you'd think of me when I found out I was pregnant. I was scared you wouldn't love me or our baby. I was scared of being rejected and living alone for the rest of my life. I was scared and I'm still scared." Damon stared at her coolly, he didn't say anything. He stared at her unblinkingly for ten minutes as she avoided the eye contact.

"Then maybe you don't know me at all." He said, getting out of the rocking chair.

"Damon wait." Elena said urgently. "Please, you have to understand. Being a vampire was all you knew. You were human for barely two months before I found out I was pregnant. A child, Damon. It would've been a shock to you. You would've resented us for putting a damper on your freedom."

"Never, Elena. I was barely functional after you left. I didn't leave the house for six months unless it was to buy beer. I wanted to run, to find you. But I stayed here, just in case you decided to come back. I could've went anywhere in the world, but I chose to stay here, to build a life for myself so that when you came back, you... could've been proud of me and not ashamed." Elena looked at him sadly. She put her hand on his cheek and caressed it.

"Damon, I could never be ashamed of you. I love you." She said. They stared at each other.

"All those years wasted." He said bitterly. Elena shook her head.

"I am so-" Elena was cut off by Damon's lips crashing down on to hers. The kiss was rough but she kissed him back with as much passion. Elena sighed and Damon took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues duelled for domination. Somewhere amidst the passion of the kiss, they ended up on the bed. There questions hadn't been answered, but that could wait until morning. They hadn't seen each other in three years and Damon finally knew the truth. A huge burden was taken off her shoulders.

* * *

Morning came all too quickly. Elena's head rested on Damon's chest as she slept. Damon watched her peaceful sleep, he hadn't slept all night. Elena sighed in her sleep. Damon was about to drift off to sleep when the door creaked open. Miranda ran into the room and stopped in her tracks. She looked at Damon and then at Elena. Then she started to run again and jumped on to the bed. Damon pulled the covers higher to cover them.

"Mommy, Daddy." She said jumping on the bed. Elena gasped as she opened her eyes. Her first instinct was to grab the blankets tightly. She looked up at Damon and he was smiling. A rare sight, indeed.

"What doing in daddy's bed?" She asked as she put herself between her parents, over the covers.

"Uhh..." She couldn't think of any excuse.

"There weren't any beds left in the house, so Mommy shared a bed with Daddy." Damon said.

"Thank you." Elena mouthed. He shrugged.

"Oh, okay." She said. She cuddled closer to Damon. It was amazing how they had already formed a bond. Elena observed them. Now that they were side by side it was amazing how they looked alike. But she also saw herself in her too. Her eyes, obviously, the way her hair waved, her nose... her personality.

"I cold." She said, trying to get under the covers.

"No!" They both exclaimed. Miranda furrowed her brow and crossed her arms. Yup, Elena decided, she's got her father's temper.

"Uh... Baby, why don't you go downstairs and we'll meet you down there for breakfast, okay?" Elena said, trying to distract her.

"Okay." She said, hopping off the bed and rushing down the stairs. Elena and Damon smiled at each other and got dressed. Though, Elena knew the happiness wouldn't last for long. Damon still had questions and she needed to answer them. They also needed to figure out who their attackers were and how to defeat them.

* * *

Meredith arrived at Bonnie's early in the morning to get the strangers car. Bonnie drove behind Meredith to the hotel. Meredith parked the car and knocked on the door that Bonnie told her Josh stayed at. Bonnie waited for her in the car. Josh opened the door.

"Elena?" He said. But as he opened the door he was face to face with a stranger, though she was very beautiful.

"Uh, hey. Who're you?" Meredith stared at what could've been a handsome guy, though he had a black eye, ruffled hair and wrinkly clothes.

"I'm Meredith Sulez. Bonnie and Elena's friend. I dropped off your rental. Here are your keys." She said, handing him his car keys.

"Uh, thanks." He said, scratching his head.

"Yeah." She said, walking out of the hall.

"Hey, wait! How's Elena?" He asked. She turned back around to him.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her yet."

"Oh."

"Clean yourself up and meet us at Bonnie's for supper, you can find out about her, then leave town. This isn't your fight." Meredith said bluntly, before leaving the hotel.

**Hey, so that's it. I'm not very good at lemony stuff so I skipped it. Please, please review.**


	15. We Can All Look Beautiful

Sorry, it's been so long. I had a million tests and I still have an essy to write. This chapter is short, but it's all I could do in the little time I had. I don't know when the next update will be, but it will probably be in a week or so. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!

Disclaimer: I own nada.

Chapter Fifteen

We Can All Look Beautiful

Stefan looked out the window. Sage was on his way, he'd be there in a day or two. Sage had also contacted some trustworthy allies. They were on their way, Stefan reassured himself. He felt something ram into his legs. He turned his head around to find Miranda hugging his legs. He smiled.

"Bonjorno Miranda. What brings you down here so early in the morning?" He asks as he picks the child up.

"Momma and Daddy tol' me go downstairs." She says in her little girl voice.

"I hungwy." She says as she wiggles out of his arms. She runs to the cabinets and reaches up. She's far from reaching the cereal cabinet. Stefan takes out her Froot Loops and pours a small bowl of it for her. He sets it on the table and Miranda climbs up the chair and starts to eat. He hears Elena and Damon descend the stairs. Elena was giggling and Damon was smiling a real smile, the kind that reached his ears. Stefan had never seen his brother smile in happiness, EVER.

"Hey Stefan." Elena says cheerily, giving him a hug.

"Ugh." He says, scrunching his nose.

"You smell horrible." Elena gives him a hurt look.

"You smell like my brother." He says with a fake grimace. Elena swats his arm and sticks out her tongue. She grabs the cereal and pours herself a bowl. Damon punches his brother in the arm and wraps his hands around Elena's waist. She leans into him and inhales his scent as she closes her eyes. The moment is broken when Miranda comes running over to them and hugs their legs. This almost knocks Damon over as he's only standing on one leg, the other is in a cast so he couldn't put any weight on it. Elena grabs Miranda and brings her to the table. Damon grabs the cereal box and pours the rest of it in his bowl. He sits at the table and they all eat. Stefan watches them silently. Elena catches his eye.

She smiles and whispers: "I for one like Damon's scent. It smells like Axe and… smoke." She says. Stefan laughs along with Damon. Miranda joins in, but doesn't know why they are laughing. Finally, after so many years and painful times they are a family.

* * *

Outside in the woods the demons watched them. Soon it would be time to execute their plans. All they needed was Damon's leg healed up and then they would kill the Salvatore's from the inside.

* * *

Damon lightly snored as he slept on the couch. Miranda was watching him and plotting to trick him like she did with her mommy. She grabbed her Mommy's nail polish from her purse and painted her father's nails. She checked that he wasn't awake and then she grabbed her mother's lipstick, blush and her black pencil. She put on the lipstick the way she saw her mommy do and then put the blush all over his face, and then she started to draw with the black marker. She giggled at how pretty her daddy looked and then ran up to his room to play with her dolls.

Damon heard snickering as he slowly woke up. Stefan was standing over him.

"What the fuck's your problem little brother? You woke me up!" He exclained. Stefan burst out laughing, he was crouched down, holding his stomach. Miranda ran into the room.

"You look pwetty, daddy." She giggled and then ran out of the room.

"What the hell?" He exclained. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"You could say that." Stefan said cryptically. Elena walked into the room and did a double take.

"What the- Oh." She started laughing.

"Miranda!" She yelled out between bouts of laughter.

"What?" He asked as Elena took a picture of him with her phone.

"What the hell, Elena?" He asked confused. "I totally feel like I've walked into the Twilight Zone." This just made Stefan and Elena laugh harder.

"Look…in the… mirror." Elena gasped. He gave her a questioning look and did as she said. He looked in the mirror and almost jumped back at the sight before him. He looked down at his hands to find his finger nails painted a bright pink. But, that wasn't all his toes were painted pink too.

"What the hell?" He yelled outraged.

"Miranda!" He yelled out.

"How the hell do I get this stuff off?" He asked Elena. He heard the little girl giggle.

"Not the big, scary bad boy anymore, are you?" Elena teased. Damon half ran, half limped after his daughter as she squealed out of the room. He chased her until he had her in his arms tickling her.

"You think this is funny?" He asks. Miranda nods and giggles. Mrs. Flowers walks into the room and drops her basket of flowers and yelps. Damon stops tickling his daughter and Miranda looks over at Mrs. Flowers with big innocent eyes. Mrs. Flowers has her hand over her heart and breathes in to catch her breath.

"Oh dear, Damon. You scared me half to death… the way you look. I thought you were a demon attacking this poor little girl." She smiles warmly at Miranda.

"You look absolutely ridiculous. What ever possessed you to do that to yourself?" She asked. Damon shook his head.

"It was her." He pointed to Miranda.

"Oh, don't be such a child my boy. You can't blame that on this innocent little creature." She said, pinching Miranda's cheeks. Miranda scrunched up her face at the contact.

"Daddy looks pwetty wike mommy now." Miranda said. Mrs. Flowers laughed at that and picked her dropped flowers and left the room laughing and shaking her head.

"Baby, why don't you let daddy clean up now?" Elena said, as she walked into the room.

"No, daddy looks pwetty. I wike it." The doorbell rang.

"Gotta go." Damon said as he hopped up the stairs. He had to leave before anyone else saw him like that. Now, all he had to do was figure out how to get nail polish and makeup off.

Elena answered the door, assuming it was Bonnie or Meredith.

"Elena?" The woman on the other side of the door said in disbelief.

"Aunt Judith?"

"Oh, Elena. It really is you?" She said, hugging her niece.

"How?" She asked.

"It's a VERY long story."

"I have time, dear." She said as they walked to the couch. For the rest of the afternoon Elena told her aunt everything that had happened to her over the years.

"Wow." She said afterwards.

"I knew I recognized Miranda's eyes, and her name..." She shook her head.

"Wait! I am going to kill that boy. He knocked you up. That's what a mother and father is supposed to do; beat him up, and since they're not here I'll do the honours." She said, getting up from the couch.

"Damon, get your butt down here now." Judith yelled out.

"Aunt Judith! You don't need to do that." Damon hopped down the stairs, he recognized that voice, she was probably angry he hadn't told her, her niece was alive. Instead she yelled at him for knocking up her niece. When she was done Stefan walked into the room with Miranda. Miranda recognized the woman and to everyone's surprise she ran over to her yelling: "Auntie Judif!" She hugged her legs, then moved on to Damon's legs and then settled herself in her mother's lap.

"Now that that's settled. I came here for a reason. The demons contacted me. They offered us a deal." She said, patting Miranda's back.

"They want Damon in exchange for my husband." She said, not meeting anyone's eyes.

**That's it for now. Please review.**


	16. I Wish You Were Here

Hey, barely no one reviewed. :(

Anyway, here's the next chapter, it's very short. I think the shortest one so far, (since I wasn't very inspired, just kidding.) This is written in Aunt Judith's POV, 'cause I think it would be interesting to know what's going through her head. I hope you enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Recap (since I hate when I read a chapter and can't remember what happened before):

Elena left Fell's church after sleeping with Damon. She had his child; Miranda. Bad things happened and she needed Damon and Stefan's help. Demons are after Miranda and they want her parents dead too. She gets there and gets attacked. Damon has broken limbs and Elena has amnesia. Miranda stays with her daddy. Aunt Judith shows up and needs help, Robert has been kidnapped. She finds out about the supernatural world. Elena remembers. Josh, her sort of bf shows up. Things happen, a fight ensues, Elena sleeps with Damon. Everything is happy and Miranda pulls a prank on Damon. Judith shows up again, the demons want Damon for Robert.

Chapter 16

I Wish You Were Here

"What? No way." Elena said in anger.

"I... I want Robert back, but I know it's out of the question." I said.

I stared at my niece. I wanted to cry and hug Elena and never let go. For so long I had thought Elena was dead, I had somewhat moved on and found piece of mind because I knew she would be with her parents, but now she was alive. It was a miracle. But, I couldn't break down now, I had to be strong and deal with the mess we had all created.

"Do you have a plan?" I asked Stefan. He gave me a small nod, it wasn't very reassuring.

"Sage and some of his allies are to arrive soon. Once they are here we will assess the situation and plan from there." Stefan said.

He was so serious. He always seemed like the serious type, always brooding. He seemed, when Elena was in high school, the safe choice for someone to spend the rest of her life with. Damon was dangerous, mysterious; I never wanted Elena near him. But, over the years he had proven himself. He had grown out of his teenage rebellion. That's what I thought before. But, I know so much more now. He had been in that teenage rebellion for centuries. Dear me, I could never imagine doing that, it gives me a head ache to think about it. I looked over at the three young adults (I suppose Stefan counts as a teenager, though he far surpasses my years in existence). Miranda was now asleep in her mother's lap. Another shocking revelation. My dear niece had lived and had a daughter. Something I wished she could've lived to have and now she does. I looked over at Damon; he was far from innocent. But, for some reason I now felt remorseful for yelling at him earlier. We all had tough decisions to make.

"That's good." I finally said to Stefan.

Suddenly I felt out of sorts, almost awkward, everyone's eyes were on me. I could tell they were watching me to see if I would break down. I wouldn't. I was stronger than they thought; I had gone through difficult things in my youth. Some things that I would never like to divulge. I awkwardly said my good-byes and told Elena to call me when they devised a plan.

When I got home I put my purse on the couch and waited for Margaret to get back home. Over the years Margaret had become like a daughter to me. I loved her so much. Robert and I had always wanted children, but two years ago we had found out that I was barren; I couldn't have children. I had been depressed for a month over this issue, but Margaret got me out of the depression unintentionally. She had come home from school and had made a painting for me. It had six stick figures: Mommy, Daddy, Elena, Margaret, Robert and 'my other Mommy'. I had cried and hugged Margaret. I didn't want to replace her parents and I never would. She never called me mommy, but on rare occasions she would write it in her pictures or her homework that I was her mommy. And that was enough for me. I had Margaret, that's all that mattered. Margaret walked into the house.

"Hi, bye." She smiled and waved at me before going back outside to play with her friend's.

Now, at the age of eight, she was looking more and more like her big sister. She had blond hair and a fair complexion; it was almost like her skin glowed. Her eyes were the only things that were different; they were blue, but a deeper blue then Elena's. Personality wise she was sweeter and more caring towards others, she was very smart for her age and she always wanted to help others. She also had an interest in all things supernatural. Hmmm. I wonder why? Life here had almost been perfect over this past year, until Robert had gone missing and I was thrust into the supernatural world. Something I could've lived the rest of my life not knowing. Elena's whole situation was very confusing. I watched Margaret play outside and wished my husband was here next to me.

I would have him by my side soon. All I had to do was wait... and worry.

**Please review!**


	17. Let the Games Begin

Hey, I've finally been able to put in my next chapter. Sorry it took so long. I've been very busy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 17

Let the Games Begin

_Dear diary,_

_I know it's been awhile; actually it's been three years. I apologize, my life's been so busy and hectic I hadn't had time to write to you. A lot has happened over the years. I have a daughter. Surprise! Her father is Damon of all people. I know, I know, but he's changed. He's so sweet now. He's a great father; he's so good with Miranda (that's my daughter's name). Sometimes, though I can feel his walls going up again. He makes sarcastic comments to cover a moment that he shows emotion. But, we're moving forward slowly. I've been gone from Fell's Church for as long as I've not written. Not much has changed here. Things aren't all demonic anymore, so that's good. I came back home because something's after me and my daughter. They killed someone close to me. I came back to find out that bad boy Damon is a hero; a firefighter. I saw a picture of him and his colleagues. He's so hot in his bunker gear. Anyway, back on topic. Stefan is doing well. He seems to really like Miranda. Meredith, Bonnie and Matt love her like a niece. Miranda loves them too, she's already calling them aunt and uncle. Aunt Judith's husband, Robert has been abducted. Damon wants to help but his leg is still bothering him. It's been a month and a half since I've been back and things are finally starting to look up for us. Well other then the missing husband and bad guys are trying to kill us thing. Sage and two of his vampire 'acquaintances' have come to help us. We'll be making our first move tomorrow night. I'm nervous yet excited to get this all over with. I really hope I'll be able to get my happily ever after, after all this. I know it sounds like a cheesy fairytale, but after everything I've been through I certainly hope I deserve it._

Elena closed her diary and sat up in the bed. Damon lay sleeping next to her. Miranda was cuddled in his arms. Her soft snores matched the rhythm of her father's. Elena put her diary in the desk drawer. She waited until she saw the first ray of light enter the dark room. Elena shook Damon awake.

"Stop, I'm awake." He grumbled at her. He stretched in the bed, hitting Miranda in the side. He looked at Miranda half-asleep with a confused look on his face.

_Why is there a midget in my bed? _He wondered. He blinked a few times and saw Elena on his other side. He blinked once more and then everything from the last month came rushing back.

_Oh._ He thought. He started to chuckle and then full out laughed when he thought more about it. Miranda turned around to face Damon and joined in on the laughter. She didn't know what she was laughing at, but she liked it when people did. A loud bang made the house shake. Elena jumped out of the bed and ran down the stairs.

"That is why you aren't ready for battle." Sage said standing over Stefan. Sage's two friends laughed at Stefan.

"What's going on?" She asked wide eyed. Sage got off Stefan and helped him up. He laughed, it was a rich sound.

"We're training this one for battle." He said pointing at Stefan.

"He hasn't had as near as much experience as we've had." The other men nodded and laughed. The tall blonde had his arms crossed over his chest. He wore battle clothes fit for the medieval ages. His blue eyes were like nothing she had ever seen. They turned purple depending on the way he looked at the light. The second one had dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes. He had muscled arms and his hands hung loosely in his jeans pockets. He was the quietest of the three but whenever he had something to say it was very useful. Stefan shook his head and gave Elena half a smile.

"I need to practice to fight, love. " He told her. The door bell rang. Elena sighed and gave the men a stern look. She walked to the door and opened it.

"Meredith." She said, giving her friend a hug.

"Hello Elena. Bonnie and Matt will be here after lunch. I have something important to tell you." She said. Elena invited her into the boarding house.

"Tarsal, John." She said in greeting to the other two vampires. She blushed when John (the dirty blonde haired one) nodded in acknowledgement.

"I want everyone to be here when I say what I need to say." At that moment Damon and Miranda came down the stairs.

"Good, I need you here too." She said to Damon. His cast had come off the week before so he could walk on his own again. The doctors had been baffled by his quick recovery. Once everyone was gathered in the kitchen she looked nervously around at everyone. John stared at her intensely. She sat down in a chair and then sat back up. She was nervous, and that bothered Elena because Meredith was never nervous.

"My parents moved us to Fell's Church because they thought we could get away from what we were." She laughed dryly.

"My family... I'm sorry Elena that I never told you." She said eyes downcast.

"I thought things would finally get back to normal. I don't think it'll ever be normal with the lives we live." She said babbling.

"Meredith, it's alright. Whatever you have to say everything will be alright." Elena said comforting her friend. She looked at Stefan, Sage, John and Tarsal as if she was looking for forgiveness. She looked at Damon quickly but then locked eyes with Elena.

"I'm..." She opened and closed her mouth.

"You are a hunter-slayer. I can sense it and I'm sure my brothers sense it too." He said gesturing to Tarsal and Sage. They nodded.

"What's that?" Stefan asked.

"Dear little brother all these years of being a vampire and you are clueless." Damon said mockingly; he sounded like the way he did three years before. If he didn't have Miranda in his arms, Elena would've thought they were back to three years before. Stefan glares at him and Damon smiles triumphantly.

"What are you?" Stefan asks ignoring his brother.

"I come from a long line of people who hunt and kill primarily vampires, though we do kill other supernaturals when they become threats to the humans."

"So you're not human?" Elena asks confused.

"Yes, I'm human. But I have a couple of skills that other humans don't."

"So all those self defence classes and horseback riding lessons were to prepare you... to kill vampires?" Meredith nodded.

"Your grand-father died because of a vampire. I can't imagine how hard it is for you to be around us." Stefan said. Meredith shook her head.

"You've proved yourself to me countless times."

"Why didn't you use your kick ass skills when Klaus was around?" Damon asked with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't know what I was back then." She explained.

"You will be useful during this challenge." Tarsal said. Sage and John nodded in agreement.

"That's why I've decided to tell you about me."

"No way." Elena cut in. "You'll get hurt or worst killed."

"Would you rather it be Miranda? We have more chances of succeeding with me on your side."

"I agree." Damon nodded.

"I'm sorry love but I have to agree." Stefan said. Damon glared at his brother for the slip.

"So that's the way it is." Elena said shaking her head in disappointment. She grabbed Miranda from Damon's arms and walked up the stairs to Damon's room and locked the door. How could her friend keep a secret like that? What if she died for her? Miranda stared at her mother with innocent eyes. She didn't know what she would do if her baby died.

"Momma?" Miranda said, placing a hand on her cheek. She brought her head close to her face and stared at her.

"Everything is going to be alright, baby."

"Okay." She said placing her head on her shoulder and wrapping her arms around her neck. Elena got up from the floor and walked back down the stairs.

"...do you know they're going to be there?" Meredith.

"Judith set up a rendezvous at midnight in the woods. They'll be there." Sage.

"Yeah, but won't they know it's a trap?" Meredith.

"No. By the time they realize what we've done, it'll be too late." Damon.

Elena walked back into the kitchen. All eyes were on her.

"I'm in. Now, what we can do to delay them from knowing it's a trap is by having Meredith be the bait. It'll work better if you wore my aunt's clothes. You'll look and smell like her." She said turning to look at Meredith. Meredith smiled at her and nodded.

"How many of them are there?" Meredith asked.

"We don't know. We can only hope that they don't outnumber us... by much." Damon said.

Sage came into the room with a huge cardboard, there were drawings on it.

"These are our positions. Elena and Miranda are going to stay here under Damon and Matt's protection." Damon looked offended.

"I'm going to the woods with you. I'm almost as strong as all of you." Sage shook his head.

"You're still vulnerable. An enemy would be able to pin point your weakness immediately. I already observed that you favour one leg over the other." Damon tried again, but was cut off.

"You will be more useful here. If anything happens you will defend your loved ones. You'll only slow us down in the woods." Damon sighed loudly letting everyone know he didn't like this.

By the afternoon they had their attack all planned out. Bonnie and Matt arrived at three and were filled in on the plans. They agreed without hesitancy. They didn't know about Meredith or her part in the plan. It was better if they didn't worry about their friend. At sun down they would head to Judith's to get the clothes. Bonnie and Matt thought Meredith would stay there during the fight. Once outside Elena said goodbye to Meredith.

"Be careful. I want you back in one piece." She hugged Meredith.

"I will." She said. Elena caught a glimpse of something sparkling in the back of her friend's car. "What is that?" She exclaimed. It was huge and dangerous looking. Meredith laughed.

"It's a stave. It can kill any kind of supernatural... or human." She added glancing at Damon who was striding over to them.

"It was nice knowing you." Damon said saluting her. Elena rolled her eyes and slapped Damon on the chest.

"Ow! I mean be safe." He said, playfully glaring at Elena. Meredith walked into her car. Stefan sat in the passenger seat.

"Be careful." Elena half choked on the words.

"I will." He said softly. Damon looked down at his brother; he didn't know what to say.

"Just don't die." He said annoyed and strode off into the house.

"Bye." Miranda said waving in Elena's arms. John, Tarsal and Sage transformed into different kinds of birds and followed Meredith's car. Stefan looked behind at Elena with sad eyes. He had a feeling something bad would happen. He only hoped it was to him and not her. Elena walked back into the boarding house and watched the sunset. The house was black inside and Miranda was now sleeping in her arms. She went up the stairs and laid Miranda in bed. She shut the door behind her and felt a hand go around her neck, something cold was then placed on to it. A blade. She screeched for Damon's help.

"Shh princess. I'm already here. Don't worry your pretty little head about your friend's either. They'll be sleeping for awhile. They'll have quite the head ache when they wake up."

"Damon?" She squeaked.

"Yes kitten?"

"Why are you doing this?" She asked hoarsely, every word pressed her throat against the blade making fresh blood run down. He licked her throat and shivered.

"So you can be my Princess of Darkness forever. One lifetime is simply not enough." He said. Elena felt betrayed and hurt. Her heart hammered in her chest.

"Damon please don't do whatever it is you're planning." She cried, hot tears running down her cheeks.

"We've been happy. What about Miranda?" She cried out.

"Nobody else matters but us, kitten." Her heart sank with those last words. He didn't care about their daughter. He had just been waiting for the right moment to turn them both into vampires. She swore to herself that she would never love him again.

"I'd rather die than live without my daughter." Damon laughed and ran his other hand down her leg. She shivered invonluntarily.

"I can tell you desire me, princess. We can have other children. One child does not matter." He kissed her neck and whispered things into her ear. The blade was still pressed to her throat.

"I thought you changed, but I was wrong." Elena said. She felt Damon chuckle against her neck.

"You can't resist me darling." He said.

"No I can't." She slowly turned around and kissed him. She ran her hands down his arms. She snatched the blade from his hand and stabbed him in the chest.

She heard him fall to the ground but didn't look at his dead body. She ran to get her daughter and then went into her car. She drove for hours, crying. She didn't know where she was going. The only thing she knew was to get as far away from Fell's Church as possible. Once the sun was up she would call Stefan and let him know what had happened.

**Please review and tell me what you think. What do you think will happen next?**


	18. Step One

Hey everyone, sorry it took so long. I replaced my AN with a chapter, and it doesn't show I updated so if you don't know** there is a chapter before this one**. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 18

Step One

Meredith stood in the middle of a bush in the dead of night. She tried looking brave, but who was she kidding, she was petrified. She hoped this plan was worth it. She wanted things to be back to the way they were before Elena left and before Alaric betrayed her. She looked up to one of the trees and saw two bidrs; Sage and John. Stefan lay hidden in the bushes and Tarsal kept watch from the entrance of the little dirt road. The vampires knew what they were doing because of the telepathy but Meredith was left in the dark, literally. An owl hooted somewhere, making Meredith jump and then curse herself for her paranoia.

_Meredith._ She heard someone call; she knew instantly what this was. She nodded her head.

_They just arrived on the dirt road; get ready. You don't need to be afraid. You know the plan, just stand there and wait until they're close enough._ Meredith nodded again.

She heard the engine of a car in the distance and readied herself. The engine was cut and then doors slammed. Footsteps were heard in the distance. Meredith didn't dare turn around. They came closer and closer, so close that she could feel ones hot breath on her neck.

_Now!_ She thought. _They're close enough! What are they waiting for?_

_Meredith_, this time it wasn't Stefan, but John's voice, _close your eyes and don't open them no matter what you hear._ Meredith squeezed her eyes shut. A fingur trailed across her cheek.

"Such a beautiful young creature." Said a melodic voice. Meredith let out a little whimper and squeezed her eye lids tighter together.

"There's nothing to fear my love, open your eyes." The voice said again. "I won't hurt you." The voice sounded so nice and sincere. Meredith loosened her lids.

_NO! Don`t! He has the power of persuasion, if you open your eyes, you`ll be lost to his command forever! _John yelled as loud as he could into her head. She did as he told her. Other footsteps were heard from afar.

"We did as you asked Master. We delivered you to the girl and her guardians." A scratchy voice said from behind Meredith.

"Yes, yes. You did as you were told. Very well, go get the others." The voice said impatiently. "We can all have our turns with this one." The voice said, stroking her cheek.

Meredith blindly did a round house kick connecting to the man's jaw and then hit him where it counted and then punched him in the ribs. She turned her back to him, opened her eyes and ran. The man had only been winded and rubbed at his sore jaw. He stared at Meredith's retreating form and then flew after her.

* * *

Damon opened his eyes, but couldn't move. He thought his ribs were acting up. He rubbed his chest to find it gooey and wet. Damon brought his hand to his face to find it red.

"Fuck!" What the hell happened to him?

"Help!" He yelled out. Blood spilled out of his mouth. He knew he was dying. He pressed his hand against his chest. He could feel the hot blood spilling through his fingers.

"Help!" He tried again but there was no answer. He tried sitting up but was hit with a wave of nausea and dizziness. His head was pounding; he couldn't hear anything except for the rush of blood going through his head.

"Damn it! No!" He yelled out in rage.

He couldn't die now, he had everything to live for; he had Elena and Miranda. He had lived centuries and had nothing to live for, but now that he had everything he was dying. How ironic. This was his punishment. He prayed to God that someone would come to help him, if only so that Miranda wasn't fatherless for the rest of her life. He made one last attempt to crawl to the phone on the wall that wasn't even a meter away. This last attempt took too much energy and Damon passed out.

* * *

Something hard landed on Meredith's back and she yelped as her body hit the ground with a loud thud. Once the demon had turned away from Stefan, Tarsal and John's eyes, the trance was broken. They flew after the demon. It landed on Meredith and they attacked him. Stefan threw the demon off Meredith as John and Tarsal beat the shit out of him. Sage popped out of the bush and ran to the car with Meredith in his arms. She had a cut on her head from hitting the ground. The other demon's rushed after the three vampires. Sage told Meredith to drive to the boarding house and he started to head back to the fight, but Meredith wanted to help.

"Wait!" She said. "Take this." She grabbed the stave in the back of her car and handed it to Sage.

"Thank you." He said sincerely before running off at super human speed. Meredith pressed the gas and drove out of the bushes.

* * *

Elena sat in a dirty old motel room. She kept replaying the scene with Damon in her head over and over again. It just didn't make any sense. Everything had been going fine, until the night they had made plans to fight against the demons. Something wasn't right. Elena took Miranda into her arms and decided to head back. Whoever that was wasn't Damon and she had stabbed him. She felt so stupid. Damon, no matter how sadistiShe wouldn't think about the possibility that Damon was dead. She wasn't far, only an hour and a half away. Hopefully she'd get to him before it was too late.

* * *

Meredith entered the boarding house to find it eerily quiet.

"Elena!" No answer.

"Damon? Matt?" Still no answer.

"Bonnie!" She ran around the house; bathroom, no, kitchen, no, living room, yes. Bonnie and Matt were sleeping on the couch.

_Oh thank God._ She thought. She shook Bonnie to wake her, but she didn't so much as groan in her sleep. She shook Matt, but he didn't wake either. She checked for pulses; they were still strong but they weren't waking.

"Mrs. Flowers?" She yelled out in fear. The old woman didn't answer back.

She ran upstairs to go find Damon and Elena. She tripped over something on her way over to Damon's room. She went to get up but her shoes slipped on something. She looked down and found the floor smeared with blood. She looked behind herself... and let out a blood curdling scream.

"Damon!" She scrambled over to him. His hand was lying on his chest; he was pale and had purple circles under his eyes. He was losing a lot of blood.

"Damon wake up." She checked his chest; it looked like he had been stabbed very close to his heart. She tapped his cheek to wake him. His eyes fluttered open but then they shut closed again. She grabbed her sweater and pressed it against his wound.

"Damon please you have to stay awake." She pleaded. Damon opened his eyes.

"Elena?" He asked with a hopeful tone to his voice.

"No, it's Meredith. You have to stay awake. Do you know what happened?"

"No." He choked out. He had a sudden coughing fit and blood spurted out of his mouth.

"Where's Elena?" He managed to ask her. Meredith looked him in the eyes.

"I don't know, but I'm sure she's fine."

"Good." He said. "Tell her... that... she can't... get rid of me... that easily." Meredith was confused.

"What are you talking about Damon?" He passed out.

"No, no, no wake up." She ran for the phone and dialled 911.

* * *

Miranda opened her eyes. She was in her mommy's car.

"Momma where daddy?" Elena looked into her rear view mirror. Miranda was staring back at her innocently.

"Daddy's home. We're going back to see him, okay?" Miranda shook her head.

"Daddy no home. Daddy in place wit bright light." All color drained out of Elena's face.

"What are you talking about baby?" Miranda had big tears falling out of her eyes.

"I scared, momma."

**TBC**

**Hopefully I can update quicker. I love reviews, they inspire me, so please review! :)**


	19. Damon

Sorry its taken so long to update. I finally had time to do it today. The chapter is short, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. I'm almost at the 50 mark so please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 19- Damon

"He's flatlining." Someone said. "Time of death 11:02 pm."

_No, look at me! I'm not dead! Just check for my pulse! It's there!_ _Stupid, useless humans, you have no intelligence at all!_

The scene changed and turned into a place that looked like a court room. Damon was dressed all in black. The man before him was dressed all in white and his long beard was also white; he seemed to glow.

"Who are you?" Damon asked.

"I am Judge Othniel." He replied simply. Damon looked at him as though he was crazy.

"Right. And why do I need a judge?" He asked impatiently.

"To decide whether you go to Heaven or Hell." He said looking straight forward as they crossed a bridge covered in clouds.

"I'm dead?" Damon asked outraged.

"How? I don't remember..."

Othniel stopped walking and turned to his left. He made a motion with his hand and an image appeared. It was one of Damon and Elena fighting in a hallway. She stabbed him and ran off.

"I..." Damon was speechless.

"I would never say anything like that. It wasn't me. It must've been a malach. You have to believe me that I love my daughter and would do anything for her." The judge nodded in understanding.

"We know what happened and the circumstances leading to your death." He said.

"Then do something about it! I can't leave Elena thinking that's what I thought." He said.

Othniel kept walking. Damon was outraged. He yelled at him to listen to him. Othniel ignored him and kept walking. Hours later they were still walking. Being dead made it so that it wasn't tiring to do anything, just boring. Damon huffed and puffed.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

Othniel kept walking, he didn't say anything. Damon had calmed down and was now just realising what being dead meant. He would never see his friends, brother, his daughter or Elena ever again. He sat down on the walkway and stared into oblivion. He had nothing.

"What's going to happen to me?" He asked, sad eyes looking up at Othniel.

A room appeared before them, it was the court room they were at earlier. A man with black hair stood next to a woman with white hair and a child stood next to the woman.

"You have learnt your lesson?" The child asked.

Damon stared up at the child. He couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I am the representation of all young souls alive on Earth." The child said. It explained the gender confusion.

"Have you learnt your lesson?" The child asked again.

"What lesson was I supposed to learn?" Damon asked defeated.

"If you must ask then you have not." The old woman said.

"You are not part of the supernatural community anymore. Your careless ways will not be tolerated here. You have three options." The man said, his voice boomed throughout the court room.

"One," the child said, "You may stay in Heaven as a gate keeper. Your duty will be to ward off all unwanted or undeserving souls, for eternity."

"Two," the man said, "You will go to Hell and do as you please." A dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Three," the woman said, "You will be given the opportunity to go back to Earth and right your wrongs. You will continue living as a mere mortal. Do all the good possible. But, if you do not right your wrongs and you go back to your criminal ways, you will cease to exist. No Earth, Heaven or Hell. If you succeed you may to whichever Heaven dimension you please. This isn't any easy decision and you must weigh all the options equally." The trio disappeared.

Othniel stood watching Damon.

"Earth." Damon said easily.

Othniel nodded.

Damon opened his eyes. He was on the side of a road. A car was approaching him. He waved his arms up in the air. The car stopped on the shoulder.

"Damon?" It was Elena. Damon rushed over to her.

"Elena, I'm so sorry. That wasn't me." He said.

"I know. I figured it out in the hotel. That's why I came back." Elena hugged Damon.

"I'm so sorry, that I stabbed you." She shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I thought I killed you." She said.

"You did." Damon said softly. Elena looked up at him in alert.

"I'll explain later." Damon said.

"We need to get back to the boarding house, the others need our help."

Damon walked to the passenger side and sat in the car. He looked at the back seat. Miranda was fast asleep. He smiled at her lovingly. Elena looked at him.

"Do you know what caused you to act that way?" Elena asked as she pulled back onto the road. Damon shook his head.

"Maybe a malach? But the last time that happened I remembered everything I did. I think this is something different."

The boarding house was eerily quiet. They rushed inside leaving Miranda in the car for the moment. Elena ran around the house. Damon stayed and watched the entrance and the car.

"Matt and Bonnie are passed out on the couch. They won't wake up no matter what I do."

"Magic." Damon said simply. Elena nodded in agreement.

Something grabbed Elena from behind. She screamed out in surprise. Gray hands were wrapped around her torso. Whatever it was, Damon suspected it was a demon, was dragging her from behind. Damon grabbed the first thing he saw; a fireplace poker. He ran after the demon. They were outside now running into the bushes. The demon turned its back on him and grabbed Elena in a bridal style position. Damon threw the poker. With a thwack it went through the demon's head. The body plummeted downwards with Elena still in its arms. Damon ran towards her. He grabbed her from under the body. She wrapped her shaking arms around his shoulders. A bone chilling laughter interrupted the silence. They both turned around. Miranda was in another demon's arms. He took out a dagger. "No!" Both Damon and Elena yelled out. Damon ran towards Miranda. He felt a sharp pain go through his chest and then darkness.

Othniel stood over Damon.

"Did you learn your lesson?" The old man asked helping Damon up.

"Was that real?" He asked. Othniel shook his head.

"It was a test. You failed." He said, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Don't go running head long into something when you don't think of the consequences." The answer came out of Damon's mouth before he really thought about them. Othniel smiled.

"Good. You learned your lesson. Now, think this time. What option do you choose?" Damon contemplated the good and bad of every situation. One option had more good than bad consequences.

"Earth." He said decisively. "I choose my family."

A white light blinded him. He felt a pressure in his chest. He took a deep breath and the pressure was gone.

"We have a pulse!" Someone yelled out in surprise.

"Oh, thank God." A familiar voice. Damon tilted his head to the side. He sighed in relief. Elena.

**Please review! :)**


	20. AN

Hey, sorry that this isn't a chapter. I kind of don't really know how to continue this story. Life is pretty hectic but I'll try and update as soon as I can. If anybody has any ideas of how to continue this story I am up for suggestions. Thank you to those who stuck to this story and to those who also reviewed. Until next time!


	21. Coming Back

**Wow, it's been so long since I've updated. I'm soo sorry it took so long. I've been very busy with University and I seem to have a problem with starting stories and not finishing them. ;) Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. And a special thanks to lydiamkee15, your message inpired me to go back to writing this story again. I don't know when I will update next. Probably at the end of April, because exam period starts next Wednesday, so I need to study. So without further ado, here is the next chapter to my story. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Sage had just bludgeoned one of the demons to a pulp. The demon turned to dust and the wind carried his ashes away. John and Tarsal were battling with three demons and Stefan was fighting the head demon. It was very hard for Stefan to fight someone that you couldn't look in the eyes. Stefan delivered a blow to its jaw; unfortunately that's when he made eye contact. He froze. His thoughts were going a mile a minute. His mind was telling him to keep fighting, but another soothing voice kept telling him to stop fighting. The voice sounded so angelic; it was Elena's voice. How could Stefan not listen to her beautiful voice? The voice told him to get into the truck that was down the road. Stefan did as he was told.

The demon smiled evilly in satisfaction. The vampire would give him the advantage in this war. Two of his other companions had just turned into dust. The third one had fled from the battle. The vampires looked satisfied; victorious. The demon got into the truck and drove off into the night with the vampire.

* * *

John laughed at the demon that ran off like a coward. He took the bow and arrow that was hanging on his shoulders and shot the demon in the back of the head. Like his compatriots he turned into dust. His disgusting ashes floated in the wind. Tarsal walked up to him and slapped him on the back.

"Nice one brother." He said, smiling. Sage joined them, but he didn't look as victorious as the other two.

"Where is Stefan?" He asked concerned. The other two vampires looked at each other in confusion.

"Shit." John said realizing that Stefan was nowhere to be found. All three tried sending a telepathic message to Stefan, but it was as though Stefan didn't exist at all. There was nothing coming back to them, not even his presence. Either he was dead, in another dimension or his mind wasn't his own. They all knew it was most likely the latter since these kinds of demons had the ability of persuasion. They turned into birds and flew off in different directions, in search of Stefan.

* * *

Miranda was sound asleep when Elena arrived at the boarding house. The first thing she saw was white and red ambulance lights. She parked the car and rushed out of it with Miranda in her arms. Miranda sleepily protested against being picked up, but Elena ignored her. Meredith rushed over to them. She was covered in blood, Elena couldn't help but gasp.

"Where is he?" Elena exclaimed.

"Ele-"

"Please Meredith, where is he?" Elena asked her voice thick with all the emotions she was feeling.

"Over there." Meredith pointed towards the ambulance, and Elena saw that even her hands were coated in blood.

Elena ran and almost fell in her rush to get to Damon. She halted in her tracks when she heard a paramedic say:

"Time of death 11:02 pm." Tears rushed down her face and she fell down on her knees. A loud scream tore through her throat. It was the worst sound she'd ever heard and it was coming from her. Miranda was now awake and was crying with her mother. She didn't know the reason as to why they were crying, but the distress that her mother was in scared her. Elena shakily got up and walked to the gurney. Damon was deathly pale and his lips were blue. There was a whole in his chest where she had stabbed him. Elena sobbed even harder. She had killed him!

"Do something!" She yelled at the paramedics. One of the men looked at her in pity.

"He's lost too much blood. I'm sorry sweetheart, he's dead." Miranda had finally seen who was on the gurney. Her beautiful eyes grew large at the sight before her.

"Daddy!" She cried out and leapt out of Elena's arms. She grabbed Damon's hand that was hanging limply on the side of the gurney.

"Wake up, daddy." She cried, squeezing his hand in her little one. Elena couldn't believe it when she heard a gasp and coughing. It was Damon! He was alive! She got a head rush from the joy she was feeling.

"Oh, thank God." She said in a shaky voice. The paramedics looked baffled. Damon tried to sit up, but winced in pain.

"Ow." He said pathetically. Miranda smiled up at him.

"You wake up, daddy." She said simply, beaming up at him.

"See mommy?" She said, pointing at her father. The paramedics seemed to snap out of their stupor.

"We need to get him to the hospital. Let's wheel him in." The big one said. They brought his gurney inside the ambulance.

"Can we come?" Elena asked weakly. The two paramedics looked at each other and then nodded. Elena walked into the ambulance with Miranda.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. It was a malach, it wasn't m-"

"Shh, I know Damon. I should be the one apologizing. I" gulp, "stabbed you. You were dead and I thought you would never come back. I'm so sorry." Elena burst into tears again.

"You did what you had to do." Damon told her. The paramedic that was hooking an IV into Damon's arm looked at them as though they were crazy. Elena mused that after everything they'd been through, they probably were.

"It's otay, mommy. Don't cry." Miranda said, playing with her mother's blonde hair. Elena smiled at her shakily.

"It's going to be alright now." Damon reassured her.

"I lov-ow!" He exclaimed as the paramedic applied pressure to his wound. The paramedic gave him an apologetic look as Damon glared at him. Elena smiled weakly at him. She felt so guilty for almost killing him…permanently. The ride to the hospital was uneventful. Damon and Miranda were both asleep when they arrived. They had to operate on Damon because Elena had very nearly stabbed him in the heart. They needed to fix the tissue and muscles that she had tore and stitch him back up. She tried fighting sleep as she waited for any news about his recovery but in the end she ended up succumbing to sleep.

* * *

When the ambulance left, Meredith walked into the house, feeling weaker then she had ever felt in her life. She felt disgusting being covered in blood. Bonnie had woken up and was drinking one of Mrs Flowers' concoctions. Matt was still soundly asleep. Bonnie gasped at the sight of her.

"What happened?" She exclaimed.

"Long story." Meredith said, too tired to explain. Bonnie looked like she was going to press for more information.

"I'll tell you after I shower." Meredith said, having a sudden need to be clean. When she got in the shower she scrubbed herself until her skin was raw. She never wanted to have someone else's blood cover her again. It was an awful feeling. She headed straight for Elena's room. She noticed that the floors were now devoid of blood. Mrs Flowers must have cleaned it. She collapsed on the bed completely forgetting her promise to Bonnie to explain to her what had happened.

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